MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.55 Per Share

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. This is an increase 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 annually for the last 6 consecutive years. MetLife has a dividend payout ratio of 20.9% indicating that 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 Up 0.4 %

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $72.22. 1,996,254 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,531,396. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. MetLife has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.68. The company has a market capitalization of $52.22 billion, a PE ratio of 39.45, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MET. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.23.

Insider Activity at MetLife

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.