Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Stock

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Barclays from $48.00 to $52.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 6.21% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.13.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of BHF opened at $48.96 on Monday. Brighthouse Financial has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $54.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $49.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of -2.41 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced 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 business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.18 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. The trade was a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 4,265 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total value of $196,360.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 86,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,971,502.48. This trade represents a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,240,000 after buying an additional 50,441 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 204.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 135,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,883,000 after buying an additional 91,175 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 153,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,665,000 after buying an additional 17,329 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $3,439,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $1,311,000. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.