Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Earns “Market Perform” Rating from Raymond James Financial

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Raymond James Financial in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BHF. Barclays reduced their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $63.70.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

BHF opened at $65.83 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.94. Brighthouse Financial 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 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $4.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.09 by ($0.55). Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 15.39% and a return on equity of 20.59%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BHF. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 66.5% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 540.4% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 225.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 1,900.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 42.0% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 764 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

About Brighthouse Financial

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.