Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Short Interest Down 25.7% in January

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) was the target of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,040,000 shares, a drop of 25.7% from the January 15th total of 1,400,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 503,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Brighthouse Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.75.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,727,141.90. This represents a 20.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,240,000 after purchasing an additional 50,441 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter worth $287,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter worth $312,000. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the fourth quarter worth $826,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the third quarter worth $1,311,000. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Up 5.8 %

BHF traded up $3.40 on Friday, reaching $62.14. 1,262,147 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 757,502. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.84 and its 200-day moving average is $48.49. The company has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.06 and a beta of 1.10. Brighthouse Financial has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $64.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last posted its 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 negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. Equities analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.2 earnings per share 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.