Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.75.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BHF shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Down 1.2 %

BHF opened at $48.22 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.76 and a 200-day moving average of $46.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Brighthouse Financial has a 1-year low of $40.00 and a 1-year high of $54.73.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.51). Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 23.54% and a negative net margin of 24.40%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In other news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 4,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total value of $196,360.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,971,502.48. This trade represents a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. This trade represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,240,000 after purchasing an additional 50,441 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 21.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,273,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,210,000 after acquiring an additional 228,814 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,091,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,160,000 after acquiring an additional 8,004 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 75.9% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 623,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,027,000 after acquiring an additional 269,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 12.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 320,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,441,000 after purchasing an additional 35,800 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Brighthouse Financial

Brighthouse Financial, Inc provides annuity and life insurance products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Annuities, Life, and Run-off. The Annuities segment consists of variable, fixed, index-linked, and income annuities for contract holders’ needs for protected wealth accumulation on a tax-deferred basis, wealth transfer, and income security.