Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and nine have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.70.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BHF shares. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Brighthouse Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 23.6% in the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 38,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,047,000 after buying an additional 7,268 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $919,000. Alpine Associates Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the second quarter valued at about $5,225,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the second quarter worth about $782,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the second quarter worth about $801,000. 81.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:BHF opened at $64.06 on Friday. Brighthouse Financial has a 52 week low of $42.07 and a 52 week high of $66.33. The stock has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported $4.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.09 by ($0.55). The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 15.39% and a return on equity of 20.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.99 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.