Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Upgraded by Raymond James to Strong-Buy Rating

Raymond James upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $72.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BHF. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Brighthouse Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $41.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $52.00 price objective on Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brighthouse Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.80.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BHF stock opened at $57.12 on Tuesday. Brighthouse Financial has a one year low of $40.00 and a one year high of $64.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $55.86 and its 200 day moving average is $50.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 8.21% and a return on equity of 26.94%. Sell-side analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of Brighthouse Financial 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,041,982. The trade was a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 46,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 72,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,501,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.