Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.00.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BHF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,876,101.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.91, for a total transaction of $298,608.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,876,101.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Inserra bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $43.20 per share, with a total value of $108,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,500 shares in the company, valued at $237,600. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $33,362,000. Algebris UK Ltd bought a new stake in Brighthouse Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $6,938,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 657.3% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 136,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,033,000 after acquiring an additional 118,441 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 295.0% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 147,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,869,000 after acquiring an additional 110,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Brighthouse Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,439,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $45.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Brighthouse Financial has a 1-year low of $40.24 and a 1-year high of $56.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.41 and a beta of 1.08.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.29. Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 38.05% and a positive return on equity of 23.49%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.86 earnings per share. Brighthouse Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current 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.