Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.80.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BHF. Barclays raised Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded 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. Finally, Raymond James raised Brighthouse Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ BHF opened at $58.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 1.11. Brighthouse Financial has a 12-month low of $40.00 and a 12-month high of $64.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.59.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. Equities research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total transaction of $610,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,041,982. This trade represents a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 989.5% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 327.0% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 918 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter worth $94,000. KBC Group NV grew 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 acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter worth $217,000. 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.