Jefferies Financial Group Increases Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target to $49.00

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $46.00 to $49.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.06% from the company’s current price.

BHF has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Brighthouse Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.38.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

BHF stock opened at $43.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company’s 50 day moving average is $45.04 and its 200 day moving average is $48.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.28 and a beta of 1.08. Brighthouse Financial has a 1-year low of $40.24 and a 1-year high of $56.24.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 38.05% and a positive return on equity of 23.49%. Brighthouse Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 17.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,876,101.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Brighthouse Financial news, Director Michael J. Inserra purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $43.20 per share, with a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,600. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was 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 directly 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. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 29.7% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,073,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,496,000 after purchasing an additional 475,327 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,061,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,200,000 after purchasing an additional 45,938 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 0.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 723,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,438 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 21.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 667,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,663,000 after purchasing an additional 119,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter worth $33,362,000. 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.