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

Shares of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.50.

BHF has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research raised Brighthouse Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Argus raised Brighthouse Financial to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings cut Brighthouse Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a report on Thursday, March 26th.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 27,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 35,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,255,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 66.5% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 32,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

BHF opened at $65.27 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.90 and a beta of 0.86. Brighthouse Financial has a twelve month low of $42.07 and a twelve month high of $66.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.57 by ($0.22). Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 1.10% and a positive return on equity of 16.88%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 19.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Brighthouse Financial

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.