MetLife (NYSE:MET) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.17 EPS

MetLife (NYSE:MET) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.17, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $19.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock traded up $0.33 on Wednesday, reaching $80.23. 3,283,035 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,792,539. MetLife has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $83.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.15 and a 200 day moving average of $76.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MET. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,012,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $553,543,000 after buying an additional 176,811 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,122,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 111.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,239,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,501,000 after buying an additional 653,962 shares during the period. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA boosted its holdings in MetLife by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 17,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in MetLife by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 115,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,124,000 after buying an additional 7,862 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.