Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.75.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BHF shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ BHF opened at $48.09 on Friday. Brighthouse Financial has a 1-year low of $40.00 and a 1-year high of $54.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.73 and a 200-day moving average of $46.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.18 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value of $434,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. The trade was a 20.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 4,265 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total value 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 trade represents a 4.71 % 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 Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 989.5% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 974.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 97.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Brighthouse Financial by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. 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.