Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Receives $60.50 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.50.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BHF shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Brighthouse Financial to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Brighthouse Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of BHF stock opened at $52.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.87. Brighthouse Financial has a 1-year low of $42.07 and a 1-year high of $66.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.66.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.86 by ($0.41). Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 12.49%.The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 earnings per share. Brighthouse Financial’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHF. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 186,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,196,000 after acquiring an additional 48,174 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $341,422,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 38.8% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 61,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,679,000 after purchasing an additional 17,164 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 3,855.0% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 123,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,382,000 after purchasing an additional 120,159 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the first quarter worth $4,036,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

About Brighthouse Financial

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.