Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Stock Rating Lowered by Barclays

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) was downgraded by equities researchers at Barclays from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.03% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price objective on Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $63.70.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:BHF opened at $64.98 on Thursday. Brighthouse Financial has a 52-week low of $42.07 and a 52-week high of $66.33. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.30.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the third quarter valued at about $84,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 163.3% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the period. Cambria Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 20.1% during the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 11,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 1,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.