Raymond James Financial Reiterates “Market Perform” Rating for Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF)

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Raymond James Financial in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

BHF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $63.70.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BHF stock opened at $65.83 on Wednesday. Brighthouse Financial has a 12 month low of $42.07 and a 12 month high of $66.33. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $4.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.09 by ($0.55). Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 15.39% and a return on equity of 20.59%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,182,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 2,224.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 514,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,642,000 after purchasing an additional 491,962 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 41.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 985,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,134,000 after purchasing an additional 286,607 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 47.9% in the second quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC now owns 764,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,121,000 after purchasing an additional 247,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the first quarter valued at about $11,761,000. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.