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

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.70.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BHF. Barclays cut Brighthouse Financial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $64.06 on Friday. Brighthouse Financial has a 52-week low of $42.07 and a 52-week high of $66.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $64.84 and its 200 day moving average is $55.70. The company has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.97.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $4.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.09 by ($0.55). Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 20.59% and a net margin of 15.39%.The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 156.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 262,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,245,000 after buying an additional 160,272 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 835.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 823 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $226,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 6.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 209,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,128,000 after purchasing an additional 13,245 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $243,000. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Brighthouse Financial

Brighthouse Financial, Inc is a U.S.-based life insurance company that specializes in retirement income solutions and annuity products. The firm was established in August 2017 as a spin-off from MetLife, Inc, and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since its separation, Brighthouse Financial has focused on providing products designed to help individuals and families manage retirement income needs, drawing on decades of experience in life insurance and annuity administration inherited from its parent company.

The company’s core product offerings include fixed indexed annuities, which allow policyholders to participate in market-linked gains while protecting against downside market risk, and single premium immediate annuities, which provide guaranteed lifetime income.