Stock Repurchase Plan Approved by MetLife (NYSE:MET) Board

MetLife (NYSE:MET) declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET opened at $70.52 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $71.64 and its 200-day moving average is $67.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $50.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.03. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $48.95 and a fifty-two week high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.37%. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that MetLife will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other MetLife 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.