Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Stock Rating Upgraded by Raymond James

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) was upgraded by analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a $72.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 26.43% from the stock’s current price.

BHF has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays upgraded Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $52.00 price target on Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.89.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $56.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $55.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.46. Brighthouse Financial has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $64.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $610,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,041,982. This represents a 13.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,797,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $94,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,721,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 13,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 2,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 195,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,411,000 after purchasing an additional 14,316 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.