Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)’s share price reached 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.

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

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value of $434,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,240,000 after buying an additional 50,441 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,091,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,160,000 after purchasing an additional 8,004 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 12.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 320,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,441,000 after purchasing an additional 35,800 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 278.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 280,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,147,000 after purchasing an additional 206,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 9.3% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 222,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,019,000 after purchasing an additional 19,022 shares during the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Down 1.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of -3.01 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the business posted $4.18 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 18.2 EPS for the current year.

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.