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MetLife (MET) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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MetLife (MET - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $43.72, moving +0.81% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.02%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.03%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.21%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the insurer had gained 9.74% over the past month. This has outpaced the Finance sector's gain of 0.62% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.4% in that time.

MET will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 12, 2019. In that report, analysts expect MET to post earnings of $1.31 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 18.02%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $16.33 billion, up 3.41% from the year-ago period.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for MET. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.46% higher. MET is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Looking at its valuation, MET is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 7.77. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 10.91, so we one might conclude that MET is trading at a discount comparatively.

We can also see that MET currently has a PEG ratio of 0.62. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Insurance - Multi line industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 0.98 as of yesterday's close.

The Insurance - Multi line industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 46, putting it in the top 18% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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