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

Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.63.

A number of brokerages recently commented on BHF. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays began coverage on Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.22, for a total transaction of $226,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 91,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,126,867.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total transaction of $297,397.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,571,093.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.22, for a total value of $226,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 91,262 shares in the company, valued at $4,126,867.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,390 shares of company stock worth $1,861,608 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 974.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 989.5% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 97.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the second quarter worth about $89,000. Institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Down 3.4 %

BHF opened at $51.09 on Friday. Brighthouse Financial has a 1-year low of $40.00 and a 1-year high of $56.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.21 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.73 and a 200-day moving average of $45.44.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $5.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.36 by $1.21. Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 26.22% and a negative net margin of 22.03%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.13 earnings per share. Brighthouse Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.64 earnings per share 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.