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Are Investors Undervaluing MetLife (MET) 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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is MetLife (MET - Free Report) . MET is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.14. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 9.67. Over the past year, MET's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.62 and as low as 7.25, with a median of 9.04.

MET is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.65. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. MET's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 0.98. Within the past year, MET's PEG has been as high as 1.29 and as low as 0.58, with a median of 0.79.

Another notable valuation metric for MET is its P/B ratio of 0.78. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.42. Over the past 12 months, MET's P/B has been as high as 1.02 and as low as 0.69, with a median of 0.85.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's 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 0.66. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.

Finally, investors should note that MET has a P/CF ratio of 9.04. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 9.30. Within the past 12 months, MET's P/CF has been as high as 16.56 and as low as -63.42, with a median of 12.10.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in MetLife's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that MET is an impressive value stock right now.


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