Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Short Interest Update

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 889,300 shares, a decline of 14.5% from the January 31st total of 1,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 567,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BHF traded down $0.90 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $55.45. The company had a trading volume of 201,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,289. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.10. 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 $54.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a net margin of 8.21% and a return on equity of 26.94%. Research analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 EPS 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 stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total transaction of $610,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,041,982. The trade was a 13.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in Brighthouse Financial by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 46,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Brighthouse Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BHF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Brighthouse Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.14.

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.