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

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.80.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. 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. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 price target on Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total transaction of $610,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at $4,041,982. This trade represents a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BHF. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,240,000 after buying an additional 50,441 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $287,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 525,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,240,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $312,000. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $826,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $58.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $56.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.59. 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.

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.