MetLife (NYSE:MET) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $90.06 and last traded at $89.8990, with a volume of 3122601 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $87.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment 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, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.62.

MetLife Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $82.60 and a 200 day moving average of $78.20. The stock has a market cap of $57.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The company had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 45.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,630,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,524,000 after acquiring an additional 117,545 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its stake in MetLife by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,742,000 after purchasing an additional 46,469 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in MetLife by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 666,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,888,000 after purchasing an additional 71,781 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,091,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 93.5% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,777,000 after buying an additional 16,288 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Company Profile

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.