MetLife (NYSE:MET) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.15 EPS

MetLife (NYSE:MET) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15, Briefing.com reports. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis.

MetLife Trading Up 0.1 %

MetLife stock opened at $76.85 on Thursday. MetLife has a one year low of $57.91 and a one year high of $77.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business’s fifty day moving average is $71.90 and its 200 day moving average is $71.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.65 billion, a PE ratio of 26.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.11.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.08.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.