Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Short Interest Update

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,310,000 shares, a decline of 6.4% from the December 15th total of 1,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 363,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BHF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brighthouse Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.38.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BHF opened at $50.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.49 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.10. Brighthouse Financial has a 12 month low of $40.00 and a 12 month high of $54.73.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.51). The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.18 EPS. Analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brighthouse Financial

In other news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. This represents a 20.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $312,000. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $826,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,091,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,160,000 after purchasing an additional 8,004 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 20.3% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 27,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 4,726 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the third quarter worth about $782,000. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.