MetLife (NYSE:MET) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife (NYSE:MET) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

MET has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.17.

MetLife Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $77.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

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.