Fundamentals snapshot
MET · NYQ · Financial Services · Insurance - Life
Current price
$97.14
52-week range
$67.33 - $100.93
Market cap
$61.73B
One-glance verdict
We don't put a cash-flow fair value on banks and insurers. For these companies the reported 'cash flow' is really just money moving between loans, deposits and trades — not the leftover profit the owners could actually pocket — so the usual method would print a misleading number.
Balance sheet
Net debt $22.99B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
What this company does
MetLife is one of the world's largest insurance companies, selling a wide variety of protection plans like life, dental, and disability insurance to both individuals and large employers. The company makes most of its money by collecting regular payments (called premiums) from its millions of customers, which creates a very steady and predictable stream of income. MetLife also manages large pools of money and sells retirement products, like annuities (contracts that pay a person a fixed income over time), diversifying how it earns revenue.
MetLife began in 1863 by insuring Civil War soldiers against disability. [5, 8] A key turning point was in the late 1870s when it started selling "industrial insurance" — small policies with weekly payments collected door-to-door, which made it the largest life insurer in the U.S. by 1909. [8, 11, 13] For most of its history, it was a mutual company, meaning it was owned by its policyholders. In 2000, it went through a demutualization (the process of converting from a member-owned company to a shareholder-owned one) and became a public company whose stock anyone can buy. [1, 8] More recently, the company has focused its business by selling off its U.S. home and auto insurance division and separating a large part of its individual life insurance business into a new company called Brighthouse Financial. [1, 13]
MetLife is in the financial protection business, primarily selling insurance and retirement products. [6, 17] Individuals and companies pay MetLife a regular fee, called a premium, for an insurance policy. In return, MetLife promises to pay a much larger amount of money if a specific event occurs, such as a death, a disability, or the need for dental work. [3, 6] The company collects these premiums and invests the large pool of money, known as the float, in assets like bonds and real estate to earn investment income before it needs to pay out claims (the money paid to a policyholder when a covered event happens). [4, 6] It also manages large retirement funds and provides investment services to other big institutions. [1, 3]
This is MetLife's largest business, making up the biggest slice of its revenue. [2, 3] It provides insurance products to employers, who then offer them to their workers as part of their job benefits package. These products include things an employee would recognize, like dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, which pays a portion of your salary if you're unable to work. [1, 4] Companies buy these plans from MetLife to help attract and retain employees by offering them a safety net for their health and finances. [15]
This segment focuses on financial products for retirement, sold to large companies and institutions rather than individuals. A major service is the pension risk transfer (when a company pays an insurer like MetLife to take over the responsibility of making regular pension payments to its retirees). [1, 4] They also sell annuities (a contract where a customer pays a lump sum in exchange for a guaranteed stream of income later, often during retirement) to institutions. [4, 8] This business helps other companies manage their long-term financial promises to their employees.
This division operates in several countries in Asia, including Japan, and is a major part of MetLife's international business. [1, 2] It sells a range of products directly to individuals and groups in these markets. The offerings are tailored to local needs but generally include life insurance, accident and health coverage, and savings products designed for retirement. [9] This segment allows the company to tap into the economic growth of these regions.
Similar to its Asia operations, this segment sells insurance and retirement products in various countries across Latin America. [1, 9] It offers life insurance, accident and health policies, and retirement savings plans to both individuals and corporate clients. [2, 9] This business represents a significant piece of MetLife's strategy to grow outside of the United States. [3]
This is the smallest of MetLife's geographic business segments. [2] It provides life insurance, accident and health coverage, and credit insurance (a type of policy that pays off a debt if the borrower dies or becomes disabled) to customers in these regions. [4] While not as large as its other segments, it gives the company a presence in these diverse markets.
Think of this segment as a container for older businesses that MetLife is no longer actively promoting. It includes specific types of U.S. life insurance and annuity policies that the company stopped selling to new customers. [1, 4] The company's goal here is not to grow, but to manage these existing policies and the related long-term financial obligations efficiently. This is often called a "run-off" business.
The company's current strategy, called "New Frontier," focuses on growing in what it sees as its most attractive and less risky businesses. [7, 10, 16] This means extending its lead in the U.S. Group Benefits market by selling more products to more employers. [15, 16] They are also focused on expanding their Retirement and Income Solutions business and growing in international markets with strong growth potential, like those in Asia and Latin America. [10, 16] A final piece of the strategy is to grow its asset management arm (MetLife Investment Management), which earns fees by investing money for other large institutions. [7, 15]
Price history
Earnings history
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
Is it cheap or expensive?
For a bank or insurer, the "free cash flow" shown on its statements is mostly money flowing through loans, deposits and trades — not the leftover profit the owners could actually keep, which is what this kind of valuation needs. Running that through the usual method would spit out a meaningless number, so we leave the cash-flow fair value out here rather than show you something misleading.
Is it drowning in debt?
Net debt $23.0B. Interest coverage 5.4x.
MetLife, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 5.4 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here.
Total debt $50.31B Interest coverage 5.39x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $16.18B Interest coverage 21.60x +301% vs MET Carries about 4.0x more debt cushion than MET.
Total debt $9.13B Interest coverage 10.80x +100% vs MET Carries about 2.0x more debt cushion than MET.
Total debt $16.83B Interest coverage 5.64x +5% vs MET Has roughly the same debt cushion as MET.
What you should know
The numbers
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Valuation
Profitability
Health
Growth
Cash flow
Dividend
Metric explainer
Debt comparison
What you should know