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

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) announced 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 dividend yield of 3.02%. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52.

MetLife has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.2% per year 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. 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:MET traded up $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $72.23. The stock had a trading volume of 2,106,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,531,897. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $71.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.02. The stock has a market cap of $52.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife has a 52-week low of $48.95 and a 52-week high of $74.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MET shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company'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 transaction of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by 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.