Evercore ISI Lowers Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target to $52.00

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) had its target price lowered by Evercore ISI from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on BHF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Brighthouse Financial from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their target price for the company from $48.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday, June 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $51.56.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $41.96 on Thursday. Brighthouse Financial has a one year low of $40.24 and a one year high of $56.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $44.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.09. The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.20 and a beta of 1.08.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $5.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.36 by $1.21. Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 23.49% and a negative net margin of 38.05%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.13 earnings per share. Brighthouse Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.91, for a total transaction of $298,608.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,876,101.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 5,000 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 96,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,428,052. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.91, for a total value of $298,608.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,876,101.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 153,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,665,000 after buying an additional 17,329 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 40,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,735,000 after buying an additional 3,681 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 15,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 1,783 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 21.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,273,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,210,000 after buying an additional 228,814 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 15,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $680,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

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.