MetLife (NYSE:MET) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife (NYSE:MET) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday.

MET has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.46.

MetLife Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:MET opened at $87.36 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.18. MetLife has a 12-month low of $62.81 and a 12-month high of $87.64. The firm has a market cap of $60.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.05.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SVB Wealth LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 10,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 15,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 138,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,236,000 after buying an additional 6,577 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth about $596,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MetLife

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.