MetLife, Inc. (MET) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 4th

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 7th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.545 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th.

MetLife has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. MetLife has a payout ratio of 20.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect MetLife to earn $9.65 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 22.6%.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET opened at $86.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $59.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $64.61 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MET shares. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on MetLife from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.46.

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.