Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Short Interest Up 11.1% in December

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,400,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the November 30th total of 1,260,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 370,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of BHF traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.05. 124,052 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 417,467. 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 has a 52 week low of $40.00 and a 52 week high of $54.73. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of -2.36 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.59.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.51). Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Rosenthal sold 4,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total value of $196,360.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,971,502.48. This trade represents a 4.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,091,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,160,000 after buying an additional 8,004 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd raised its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 20.3% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 27,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 4,726 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $782,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 12.6% during the 3rd 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. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,240,000 after purchasing an additional 50,441 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.