Brokerages Set Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target at $51.38

Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.38.

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. This represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% during the 3rd 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. Creative Planning raised its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Up 14.2 %

Shares of BHF stock opened at $58.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.87 and a beta of 1.08. Brighthouse Financial has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $64.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.43.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 23.54% and a negative net margin of 24.40%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.18 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.2 EPS for the current fiscal 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.