MetLife To Buy Back Up To $1 Bln In Common Stock

(RTTNews) - MetLife Inc (MET), which last repurchased shares in 2008, said Tuesday that it will resume share repurchases and plans to buy back up to $1 billion of its common stock. The insurance provider said it will utilize existing authorizations from its board of directors to repurchase the common stock.

Steven Kandarian, Chairman, President and CEO of MetLife said, "Our philosophy is that excess capital belongs to our shareholders. The challenge is to strike the right balance between adherence to our philosophy and recognition that MetLife's required capital levels remain unknown if we are designated a non-bank systemically important financial institution, or SIFI, under the Dodd-Frank Act."

Kandarian said that while MetLife anticipated that the non-bank SIFI capital rules would be known by now, recent statements by the Federal Reserve suggest that the draft rules may not be seen until 2015.

He added that later this year, MetLife will raise $1 billion as the last tranche of equity units issued to fund the Alico purchase gets converted to common shares.

In April, MetLife boosted its quarterly dividend by 27 percent and declared a second-quarter 2014 common stock dividend of $0.35 per share.

Under Kandarian, MetLife has shifted focus on international markets to spur growth, especially in Asia and Latin America. Last year, MetLife acquired Chilean pension provider AFP Provida SA, while in 2010, it acquired American Life Insurance Co, or Alico, for $16 billion from American International Group Inc (AIG).

MetLife will hold its investor day today.

MET closed Monday's trading at $54.66. In Tuesday's pre-market trades, the stock is up $0.87 or 1.59 percent to $55.67.