MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Increases Dividend to $0.57 Per Share

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 22nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.5675 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a 4.1% increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55.

MetLife has raised its dividend by an average of 4.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. MetLife has a dividend payout ratio of 21.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect MetLife to earn $10.57 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.18 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.6%.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $75.23. The stock had a trading volume of 3,030,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,409,154. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.80. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Analysts predict that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in MetLife stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 351 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.46.

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.