Metlife hikes dividend by 4.3%

MetLife (MET) will raise its quarterly dividend by 4.3 percent to 48 cents per share in 2021. This follows a dividend hike of 4.5 percent to $0.46 per share in 2020 and marks 9 consecutive years of dividend increases by the insurance company.

The next dividend will be payable on June 14, 2021, to shareholders of record as of May 11, 2021. A new annual rate of $1.92 per share yields 3.0% at a stock price of $63.36.

“We are pleased to increase our common stock quarterly dividend by 4.3%,” said MetLife President and CEO Michel Khalaf. “Thanks to our financial strength, we are a source of steady and growing income for millions of people. By executing on our Next Horizon strategy, we are generating strong free cash flow that enables us to return capital to our shareholders while also investing to drive profitable growth now and into the future.”

MetLife, Inc. is a financial services company with operations worldwide, including the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The company provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management for individual and institutional customers. Metlife was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in New York. The company has paid a dividend every year since 2000.