StockNews.com Upgrades MetLife (NYSE:MET) to Buy

MetLife (NYSE:MET) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup upped their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.23.

MetLife Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $82.50 on Thursday. MetLife has a 12 month low of $57.91 and a 12 month high of $82.99. The company has a market cap of $58.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.90.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that MetLife will post 8.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 73.3% in the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 602.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 72.6% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% 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.