Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. $BHF

Norges Bank bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 765,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,182,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BHF. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 41.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 985,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,134,000 after buying an additional 286,607 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Brighthouse Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $12,536,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Brighthouse Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,326,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,001,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,629,000 after acquiring an additional 163,626 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 156.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 262,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,245,000 after acquiring an additional 160,272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BHF. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $63.70.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ BHF opened at $65.35 on Friday. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $42.07 and a 12 month high of $66.33. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $56.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

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.