MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.55

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 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52.

MetLife has raised its dividend by an average of 4.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 6 years. MetLife has a dividend payout ratio of 20.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect MetLife to earn $9.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.9%.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $72.72 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a PE ratio of 39.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.06. MetLife has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. Research analysts expect that MetLife will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MetLife

In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group dropped their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.23.

About MetLife

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.