Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Price Target Lowered to $42.00 at Morgan Stanley

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) had its target price reduced by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $45.00 to $42.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 14.91% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on BHF. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $63.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group set a $72.00 target price on Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.30.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of BHF traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $49.36. 52,590 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 624,106. The company has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.88. Brighthouse Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $64.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.09 and its 200 day moving average is $55.43.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.72 by ($0.55). The company had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 25.60% and a net margin of 8.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Vonda Huss sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.51, for a total transaction of $178,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,097,423.91. This trade represents a 13.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 187.3% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,823,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188,685 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,131,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 156.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 656,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,537,000 after acquiring an additional 400,924 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 41.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 985,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,134,000 after acquiring an additional 286,607 shares during the period. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $11,761,000. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.