Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $43.38, but opened at $48.58. Brighthouse Financial shares last traded at $47.62, with a volume of 562,031 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BHF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $63.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $57.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.67.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.41.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.70 by ($1.27). Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BHF. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 66.5% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 188.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 1,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 42.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 12,371.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is currently 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.