Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 875,172 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 193% from the previous session’s volume of 298,403 shares.The stock last traded at $61.66 and had previously closed at $51.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on BHF. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.38.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $49.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.91 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

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). Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 18.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. The trade was a 20.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $643,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $287,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $312,000. 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.