Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $64.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on BHF. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays raised Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brighthouse Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.75.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $59.98 on Monday. Brighthouse Financial has a 1 year low of $40.00 and a 1 year high of $64.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.78. The company has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.95 and a beta of 1.10.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.51). Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. The firm 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 firm posted $4.18 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Brighthouse Financial

In related news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $610,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,041,982. This represents a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value of $434,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth $1,748,000. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth $643,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth $287,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 663 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Company Profile

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.