Analysts Set Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target at $50.63

Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $50.63.

Several analysts have weighed in on BHF shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.22, for a total transaction of $226,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 91,262 shares in the company, valued at $4,126,867.64. This represents a 5.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Eric T. Steigerwalt sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.67, for a total transaction of $1,141,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 321,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,663,358.24. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,265 shares of company stock worth $1,564,211 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHF. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 56,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,896,000 after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $2,278,000. Algebris UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $6,938,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 145,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,501,000 after purchasing an additional 18,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 66.6% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 15,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 6,005 shares during the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BHF stock opened at $51.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.51. Brighthouse Financial has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $56.24.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.44 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.