Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Short Interest Down 6.4% in December

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,310,000 shares, a decrease of 6.4% from the December 15th total of 1,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 363,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BHF traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.56. 257,572 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 266,216. Brighthouse Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $54.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.51). Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 23.54% and a negative net margin of 24.40%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.18 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In related news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value of $434,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,727,141.90. This represents a 20.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 0.9% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 5.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 30.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 989.5% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BHF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.38.

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.