Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating. Wells Fargo & Company now has a $59.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $41.00. Brighthouse Financial traded as high as $64.12 and last traded at $63.32, with a volume of 49864 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $62.81.

BHF has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.75.

Insider Activity

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $610,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at $4,041,982. This trade represents a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value of $434,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. This represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 195,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,411,000 after purchasing an additional 14,316 shares during the period. Shay Capital LLC bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $480,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $94,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $488,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 62,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,018,000 after acquiring an additional 16,120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.78.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 20.09 EPS for the current 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.