Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Stock

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) had its price objective boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $60.00 to $66.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on BHF. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upgraded Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

BHF stock opened at $61.87 on Tuesday. Brighthouse Financial has a 1-year low of $40.00 and a 1-year high of $64.12. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $52.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total transaction of $610,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at $4,041,982. The trade was a 13.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. The trade was a 20.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,240,000 after purchasing an additional 50,441 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 187.3% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,823,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,585,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188,685 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,682,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,807,000 after acquiring an additional 181,980 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,091,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,160,000 after purchasing an additional 8,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 2,632.8% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 884,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,475,000 after purchasing an additional 851,808 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brighthouse Financial Company Profile

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.