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

Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.38.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BHF shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brighthouse Financial

In other news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. This trade represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $643,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. bought a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $287,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $312,000. Institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

BHF opened at $58.33 on Wednesday. Brighthouse Financial has a 12-month low of $40.00 and a 12-month high of $64.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.87 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.65 and a 200-day moving average of $47.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.2 earnings per share for the current year.

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.