Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. Barclays currently has $85.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $52.00.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on BHF. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.63.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $62.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.05 and a beta of 1.08. Brighthouse Financial has a 52-week low of $40.00 and a 52-week high of $64.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.54.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.51). Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 23.54% and a negative net margin of 24.40%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value of $434,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BHF. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. 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.