Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,400,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the November 30th total of 1,260,000 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 370,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BHF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ BHF traded up $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $48.05. The company had a trading volume of 124,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,467. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.36 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Brighthouse Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $54.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.59.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by ($0.51). Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 23.54% and a negative net margin of 24.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.18 EPS. Analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.47 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 4,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total transaction of $196,360.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 86,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,971,502.48. This represents a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,727,141.90. The trade was a 20.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BHF. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 974.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 623 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 989.5% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 97.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $89,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Company Profile

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.