Analysts Set Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target at $51.14

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.14.

BHF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BHF opened at $50.50 on Monday. Brighthouse Financial has a one year low of $39.24 and a one year high of $56.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.72 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.78.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.83 by ($0.91). Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 20.71% and a negative net margin of 27.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.51 EPS. Research analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 17.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brighthouse Financial

In related news, CEO Eric T. Steigerwalt sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $1,174,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 390,765 shares in the company, valued at $18,350,324.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Eric T. Steigerwalt sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $1,174,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 390,765 shares in the company, valued at $18,350,324.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vonda Huss sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.85, for a total transaction of $468,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,268,698. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter worth $33,362,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,073,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,496,000 after acquiring an additional 475,327 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 80.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 315,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,452,000 after acquiring an additional 140,796 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 21.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 667,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,663,000 after purchasing an additional 119,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 295.0% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 147,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,869,000 after purchasing an additional 110,397 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

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.