Zacks Research Upgrades Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) to Hold

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $60.86.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of BHF opened at $62.36 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.93 and a beta of 0.87. Brighthouse Financial has a 1-year low of $42.07 and a 1-year high of $66.33. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.73. 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 earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.57 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 16.88% and a negative net margin of 1.10%.Brighthouse Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BHF. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 156.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 262,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,245,000 after acquiring an additional 160,272 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 835.2% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the first quarter valued at about $226,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 6.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 209,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,128,000 after acquiring an additional 13,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 12.5% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 6,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. 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.