MetLife (NYSE:MET) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

MetLife (NYSE:MET) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.83, Briefing.com reports. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $70.52. The stock had a trading volume of 3,361,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,164,878. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.40. MetLife has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $74.68. The firm has a market capitalization 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.48%.

Insider Transactions at MetLife

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.23.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.