MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.00.

MET has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $707,000. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $585,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in MetLife by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,938,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,071,000 after purchasing an additional 226,784 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in MetLife by 155.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 47,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:MET opened at $77.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.71. MetLife has a 12 month low of $57.91 and a 12 month high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MetLife will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.