MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.57

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 8th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of 0.5675 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%.

MetLife has a dividend payout ratio of 22.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect MetLife to earn $10.57 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.27 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.5%.

MetLife Trading Up 0.7%

MET traded up $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.71. 2,866,019 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,370,615. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. MetLife has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $78.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.09.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 1st quarter worth approximately $307,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 187.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.42.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is 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.

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