Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Argus raised Brighthouse Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Brighthouse Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $60.86.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of BHF stock opened at $62.36 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.73. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of -20.93 and a beta of 0.87. Brighthouse Financial has a fifty-two week low of $42.07 and a fifty-two 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 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 business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was down 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.17 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 19.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. HBK Investments L P acquired a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $136,059,000. Glazer Capital LLC acquired a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $113,252,000. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 98.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,413,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,177,000 after buying an additional 1,690,064 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 190.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,396,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,113,000 after buying an additional 915,902 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 149.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,264,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,959,000 after buying an additional 758,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.