Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

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

Brighthouse Financial Trading Down 2.8 %

Brighthouse Financial stock traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $59.98. The stock had a trading volume of 1,096,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,922. Brighthouse Financial has a one year low of $40.00 and a one year high of $64.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.95 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total transaction of $610,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,041,982. This represents a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,727,141.90. This represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,240,000 after purchasing an additional 50,441 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $826,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Brighthouse Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,311,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 102.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 160,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,223,000 after buying an additional 81,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,091,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,160,000 after purchasing an additional 8,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BHF. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upgraded Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.75.

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.