Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Hold Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on BHF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $60.86.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of BHF opened at $62.36 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.73. Brighthouse Financial has a twelve month low of $42.07 and a twelve month high of $66.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.93 and a beta of 0.87.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.57 by ($0.22). Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 16.88% and a negative net margin of 1.10%.The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.17 earnings per share. Brighthouse Financial’s revenue was down 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 19.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the first quarter valued at about $20,359,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 3,855.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 123,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,382,000 after acquiring an additional 120,159 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 25.3% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 69,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,167,000 after acquiring an additional 14,052 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the first quarter valued at about $360,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the first quarter valued at about $595,000. 81.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Company Profile

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.