MetLife (NYSE:MET) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.05 EPS

MetLife (NYSE:MET) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05), Zacks reports. MetLife had a net margin of 5.27% and a return on equity of 20.01%.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded up $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $84.92. 5,285,281 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,553,012. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.68. MetLife has a 52-week low of $65.65 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on MetLife from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.46.

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.