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

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $85.53 and last traded at $85.5010, with a volume of 351750 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $84.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen cut their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Evercore set a $96.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.31.

MetLife Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.07. The stock has a market cap of $54.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MET. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 187.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $444,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

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.