Analysts Set Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target at $50.00

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $50.00.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $45.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of -2.41 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.35 and a 200-day moving average of $46.27. Brighthouse Financial has a 1-year low of $40.24 and a 1-year high of $56.24.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $5.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.36 by $1.21. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 38.05% and a positive return on equity of 23.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 96,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,428,052. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Brighthouse Financial news, CEO Eric T. Steigerwalt sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.67, for a total value of $1,141,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 321,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,663,358.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 96,262 shares in the company, valued at $4,428,052. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,125 shares of company stock worth $1,669,148. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 21.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,273,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,210,000 after buying an additional 228,814 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,061,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,200,000 after buying an additional 45,938 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $33,362,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 75.9% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 623,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,027,000 after purchasing an additional 269,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 441,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,350,000 after purchasing an additional 8,471 shares in the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is owned by 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.