MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Increases Dividend to $0.55 Per Share

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. Investors 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 3.02%. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52.

MetLife has raised its dividend by an average of 4.2% per year 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. Research analysts expect MetLife to earn $9.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.9%.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE MET traded up $0.26 on Tuesday, reaching $72.22. 1,996,254 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,531,396. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $52.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of 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

MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.