Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Upgraded at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $72.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Barclays raised Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Brighthouse Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $52.00 price objective on Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.80.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of BHF opened at $57.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.65. 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 has a 1 year low of $40.00 and a 1 year high of $64.12.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $610,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 66,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,041,982. This represents a 13.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 2.7% in 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 raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 46,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,224,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 72,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,501,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

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.