Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $994,000 Position in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. $BHF

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 16,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $994,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 442.5% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 66.5% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 566 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 835.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of Brighthouse Financial stock opened at $64.01 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of -21.48 and a beta of 0.86. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.07 and a 52-week high of $66.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $4.35 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 1.10% and a positive return on equity of 16.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.17 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 19.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BHF. Weiss Ratings cut Brighthouse Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research raised Brighthouse Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Argus raised Brighthouse Financial to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $60.86.

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.