MetLife (MET) Stock Slumps Ahead of Today's Earnings Release
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- MetLife (MET) - Get Report stock is falling by 0.83% to $50.60 in late morning trading on Wednesday, ahead of the release of the company's 2015 third quarter earnings results, due out after the market close this afternoon.
Analysts are expecting the insurance company to post a year over year decline in both earnings per share and revenue for the most recent quarter.
MetLife has been forecast to report earnings of 76 cents per share on revenue of $17.72 billion for the September ended period by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Last year, the company reported earnings of $1.60 per share on revenue of $18.85 billion for the 2014 third quarter.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates METLIFE INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:
We rate METLIFE INC (MET) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its attractive valuation levels, notable return on equity and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:
- 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.
- Regardless of the drop in revenue, the company managed to outperform against the industry average of 13.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues fell by 11.4%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
- Despite currently having a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, it is higher than that of the industry average, inferring that management of debt levels may need to be evaluated further.
- METLIFE INC's earnings per share declined by 21.4% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. We feel it is likely to report a decline in earnings in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, METLIFE INC increased its bottom line by earning $5.42 versus $2.91 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 3.5% in earnings ($5.23 versus $5.42).
- You can view the full analysis from the report here: MET
Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.