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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on BHF shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value of $434,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. The trade was a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 172,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,496,000 after buying an additional 18,082 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 278.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 280,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,147,000 after acquiring an additional 206,116 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Brighthouse Financial by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 7,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 97.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

BHF stock traded down $1.73 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $59.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,096,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,922. Brighthouse Financial has a 1 year low of $40.00 and a 1 year high of $64.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.95 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.18 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.2 EPS for the current year.

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.