UBS Cuts PT to $51 Following MetLife (MET) Conference Call

UBS maintained a Neutral rating on MetLife (NYSE: MET), and cut the price target to $51.00 (from $55.00). MET did not provide consolidated EPS guidance on Friday's call. While MET raised its FCF conversion guidance from 45-55% (for 2015-2017) to 55- 65% (for 2016-2018), the impact is muted by the reduction in UBS' earnings forecast. MET indicated it now intends to return all of its FCF to shareholders ahead, as it now feels it has an appropriate buffer amidst ongoing regulatory uncertainty.

Analyst Suneet Kamath commented, "While, as expected, MET did not provide consolidated EPS guidance on Friday's call, our read of segment-level commentary is that MET's earnings growth outlook is lower than our prior forecast, largely due to higher-than-expected spread compression (exacerbated by weaker VII and the roll-off of interest rate hedges). Our revised 2016 earnings forecast is ~3% lower, and our 2016-2019 earnings CAGR (i.e., ~4%) is below the rates implied by our read of MET's prior guidance (i.e., 4.5-6.5% near-term and 6-8% long-term, ex-Corporate). We lower our EPS estimates from $5.95 to $5.80 for 2016 and $6.40 to $6.15 for 2017 and expect downward revisions to consensus."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on MetLife click here. For more ratings news on MetLife click here.

Shares of MetLife closed at $47.12 yesterday.

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