Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.00.

BHF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Brighthouse Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael J. Inserra bought 2,500 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.20 per share, with a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $237,600. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Michael J. Inserra bought 2,500 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.20 per share, with a total value of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $237,600. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.91, for a total value of $298,608.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,876,101.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 80,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,155,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 24,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BHF opened at $46.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Brighthouse Financial has a twelve month low of $40.24 and a twelve month high of $56.24.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 23.49% and a negative net margin of 38.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 16.16 earnings per share for the current year.

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.