Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $60.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Brighthouse Financial traded as high as $64.00 and last traded at $58.33, with a volume of 3111434 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.09.

BHF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays upgraded Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. This trade represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in Brighthouse Financial by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Brighthouse Financial by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Brighthouse Financial by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.01 and a beta of 1.08. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.63.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 18.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.