MetLife (NYSE:MET) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.05 EPS

MetLife (NYSE:MET) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05), Zacks reports. MetLife had a net margin of 5.27% and a return on equity of 20.01%.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock traded down $1.52 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $83.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,412,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,445,247. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $66.02 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.71.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.17.

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.