Analysts Set Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) PT at $61.75

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.75.

A number of research firms have recently commented on BHF. Jefferies Financial Group cut Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Brighthouse Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $610,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at $4,041,982. This trade represents a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Brighthouse Financial by 989.5% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP grew its position in Brighthouse Financial by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 13,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Brighthouse Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,311,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Brighthouse Financial by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,327 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $277,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Up 4.3 %

BHF opened at $55.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.35. Brighthouse Financial has a one year low of $40.00 and a one year high of $64.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 EPS 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.