Barclays Reiterates an 'Overweight' on MetLife (MET); One-Time Items Lead to Reduced 3Q EPS Expectations

Barclays reiterates an 'Overweight' on MetLife (NYSE: MET) price target of $40.00.

Barclays analyst says, "MET announced several one-time charges that result in a reduced outlook for 3Q11 operating EPS to $0.90 from our prior estimate of $1.05. More importantly, our outlook for core operating EPS in 3Q11 is $1.12 excluding the impact of one-time items and above-average catastrophe losses."

"We are reducing our 2011 EPS estimate for MET to $4.85 from $5.00. No change to our 2012 EPS estimate of $5.65. As a point of reference, MET estimates each 1% change in the S&P 500 equates to about a $0.01-$0.02/shr impact to earnings...We also expect MET to announce a new $1.0-$1.5bn share buyback when it reports 3Q11 results. MET currently trades at an attractive valuation of 5x our 2012 EPS estimate of $5.65 and 0.60x book value ex AOCI."

For more ratings news on MetLife click here and for the rating history of MetLife click here.

Shares of MetLife closed at $30.69 yesterday.

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