Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) to “Buy”

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) was upgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $54.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $49.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 13.42% from the company’s previous close.

BHF has been the topic of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Brighthouse Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:BHF opened at $47.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.50 and a beta of 1.09. Brighthouse Financial has a twelve month low of $40.24 and a twelve month high of $56.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $44.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 23.49% and a negative net margin of 38.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.86 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 16.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 96,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,428,052. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 96,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,428,052. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.91, for a total value of $298,608.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,876,101.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 667,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,663,000 after buying an additional 119,345 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 138.8% in the 4th quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 34,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 20,015 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,061,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,200,000 after purchasing an additional 45,938 shares in the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 61,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,248,000 after purchasing an additional 8,434 shares in the last quarter. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.