Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $54.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $49.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Brighthouse Financial from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their price target for the company from $48.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Up 0.9 %

Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $48.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 1.09. Brighthouse Financial has a one year low of $40.24 and a one year high of $56.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.82.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 38.05% and a positive return on equity of 23.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 16.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Brighthouse Financial

In related news, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.91, for a total value of $298,608.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,876,101.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.91, for a total value of $298,608.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,876,101.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Inserra purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $43.20 per share, with a total value of $108,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $237,600. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Brighthouse Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $388,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 11.1% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 20,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076 shares in the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the first quarter worth $6,938,000. EMC Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 216.0% during the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the first quarter worth $294,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

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.