Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Short Interest Down 6.4% in January

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter worth $1,748,000. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $643,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. bought a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $287,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ:BHF traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $59.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,096,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,922. Brighthouse Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $64.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.95 and a beta of 1.10. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $50.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.78.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.