MetLife Inc Stock Hold Recommendation Reiterated (MET)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- MetLife (NYSE:MET) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a hold with a ratings score of C. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, reasonable valuation levels and good cash flow from operations. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including unimpressive growth in net income, poor profit margins and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• MET's revenue growth trails the industry average of 13.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 0.1%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
• The return on equity has improved slightly when compared to the same quarter one year prior. This can be construed as a modest strength in the organization. Compared to other companies in the Insurance industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, METLIFE INC has outperformed in comparison with the industry average, but has underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500.
• The gross profit margin for METLIFE INC is currently extremely low, coming in at 0.40%. It has decreased significantly from the same period last year. Along with this, the net profit margin of -0.90% trails that of the industry average.
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Insurance industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 116.4% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $877.00 million to -$144.00 million.

MetLife, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs in the United States, Japan, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. The company has a P/E ratio of 5.7, equal to the average insurance industry P/E ratioand below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. MetLife has a market cap of $32.74 billion and is part of the financial sector and insurance industry. Shares are down 4.7% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full MetLife Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

For more information on MetLife Inc click any of the following:

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• MetLife Inc Growth Rates

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• MetLife Inc Income Statement