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

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of 0.545 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52.

MetLife has increased its dividend by an average of 4.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 6 years. MetLife has a dividend payout ratio of 20.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 opened at $72.49 on Wednesday. MetLife has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $74.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.28 and a 200 day moving average of $67.02. 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 market capitalization of $52.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at MetLife

In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction 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 business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently 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.