MetLife (NYSE:MET) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $98.00 to $105.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. MetLife traded as high as $93.16 and last traded at $93.0360, with a volume of 2827396 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $91.65.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.23.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,727,518,000 after buying an additional 7,805,814 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,071,000 after buying an additional 2,211,315 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 133.5% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,098,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $219,136,000 after buying an additional 1,771,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 105.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,424,000 after buying an additional 1,695,563 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $84.69 and a 200-day moving average of $78.71.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.MetLife’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.