Short Interest in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Decreases By 20.3%

by · The Markets Daily

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF – Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 948,400 shares, a decline of 20.3% from the September 15th total of 1,190,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 394,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BHF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.63.

Read Our Latest Analysis on BHF

Brighthouse Financial Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Brighthouse Financial stock traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $46.16. 273,602 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 428,805. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of -2.42 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.86 and its 200 day moving average is $45.56. Brighthouse Financial has a 1 year low of $40.00 and a 1 year high of $56.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $5.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.36 by $1.21. Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 26.22% and a negative net margin of 22.03%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.13 EPS. Brighthouse Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.22, for a total transaction of $226,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 91,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,126,867.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.22, for a total transaction of $226,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 91,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,126,867.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total transaction of $297,397.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,571,093.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,125 shares of company stock worth $1,665,248. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHF. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 974.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 97.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $89,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

About Brighthouse Financial

(Get Free Report)

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.

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