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

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 8th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of 0.545 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th.

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 11 years. MetLife has a payout ratio of 22.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect MetLife to earn $9.86 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 22.1%.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $84.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife has a one year low of $57.91 and a one year high of $85.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.47.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife will post 8.68 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MET shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America lowered their price target on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.00.

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.