MetLife, Inc. (MET) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.55 on June 11th

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.545 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52.

MetLife has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 7 years. MetLife has a dividend payout ratio of 21.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect MetLife to earn $9.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.18 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.9%.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $70.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.40. MetLife has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $74.68. The firm has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.03.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.83. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. On average, analysts expect that MetLife will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.