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

Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. 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. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.75.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Brighthouse Financial

In related news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value of $434,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. This trade represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 4,265 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,971,502.48. The trade was a 4.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 5.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of BHF stock opened at $48.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Brighthouse Financial has a 52-week low of $40.00 and a 52-week high of $54.73. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of -2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.47 EPS 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.