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Is MetLife (MET) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

MetLife (MET - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. MET is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 8.15, which compares to its industry's average of 10.78. Over the last 12 months, MET's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.25 and as low as 5.89, with a median of 8.15.

Investors will also notice that MET has a PEG ratio of 1.09. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. MET's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.14. Over the past 52 weeks, MET's PEG has been as high as 2.50 and as low as 1.07, with a median of 1.69.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is MET's P/B ratio of 0.76. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.67. MET's P/B has been as high as 0.89 and as low as 0.43, with a median of 0.71, over the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. MET has a P/S ratio of 0.75. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.04.

Finally, we should also recognize that MET has a P/CF ratio of 12.15. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 14.02. Over the past year, MET's P/CF has been as high as 51.21 and as low as 4.70, with a median of 10.11.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that MetLife is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, MET sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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