Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $72.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BHF. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $52.00 price objective on Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Brighthouse Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.80.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ BHF opened at $57.12 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $55.86 and its 200 day moving average is $50.54. 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 has a 12 month low of $40.00 and a 12 month high of $64.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.11.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. Research analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total transaction of $610,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 66,262 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $1,797,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $94,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $1,721,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 13,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 2,981 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 195,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,411,000 after acquiring an additional 14,316 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.