Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating. Wells Fargo & Company now has a $59.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $41.00. Brighthouse Financial traded as high as $64.12 and last traded at $63.32, with a volume of 49864 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.81.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brighthouse Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Insider Activity

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total transaction of $610,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,041,982. The trade was a 13.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value of $434,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. The trade was 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 company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,240,000 after buying an additional 50,441 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $287,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $312,000. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $826,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,311,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 1.10.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 8.21% and a return on equity of 26.94%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.