MetLife generated more than a quarter of its revenue outside the U.S. last year, compared with less than 15 percent in 2008. International operating profit almost tripled last year to $2.2 billion.

MetLife is among the bidders for ING Groep NV's Asian life insurance business, people familiar with the matter said. ING planned to sell the business in one piece, though some bidders are seeking to acquire certain operations, the people said.

"My personal impression is that they don't want more exposure to Japan, but that the Southeast Asia portion of that business would be attractive" to MetLife, Dargan said. He rates MetLife the equivalent of buy.

Mortgage Unit

MetLife freed up $1 billion in capital by striking deals to sell operations in nations including Venezuela, Kandarian has said. The firm said in January it would shut its home mortgage origination operation and cut most of the 4,300 workers.

The insurer had about 67,000 employees as of Dec. 31. That compares with 66,000 at the end of 2010 and 54,000 a year earlier, before the Alico deal.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has narrowed its focus by agreeing to sell its individual annuities-distribution business. It's also seeking to sell Woodbury Financial Services and its retirement-plan and individual-life units to focus on property-casualty coverage.

Prudential Financial Inc., the No. 2 U.S. life insurer, is also expanding in Asia after the purchase of a business from AIG. The Newark, New Jersey-based insurer struck deals in 2011 to sell a commodities business and its real estate brokerage and relocation unit.

Kandarian has been unable to say exactly when MetLife will resume share buybacks and increase its dividend after the Federal Reserve twice rejected the company's capital plans. He declined last month to reiterate an earlier prediction that the insurer would no longer have bank status by June 30, after he agreed to sell deposits to General Electric Co.

"The driver of the stock is not going to be what happens with expense savings," Binner said. "The driver of the stock is what happens with capital deployment and the macroeconomic environment."