MetLife (NYSE:MET) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $83.95 and last traded at $83.9160, with a volume of 1684994 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $82.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MET. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Bank of America dropped 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 increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho set a $95.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.15.

MetLife Stock Down 0.4%

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 $54.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.67.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trustmark Bank Trust Department lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department now owns 2,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 26,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,128,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 13,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,146,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.