Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. $BHF

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 314,621 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 35,000 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Brighthouse Financial were worth $20,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BHF. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 98.1% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,413,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,177,000 after buying an additional 1,690,064 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 190.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,396,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,113,000 after purchasing an additional 915,902 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial during the third quarter worth about $31,465,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 231.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 341,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,126,000 after purchasing an additional 238,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 10.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,210,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,321,000 after purchasing an additional 208,630 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Brighthouse Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised Brighthouse Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Argus raised Brighthouse Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $60.86.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BHF stock opened at $62.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.96 and a beta of 0.87. Brighthouse Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $42.07 and a 1 year high of $66.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $4.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.57 by ($0.22). Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 16.88% and a negative net margin of 1.10%.The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.17 EPS. Brighthouse Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Brighthouse Financial Profile

Brighthouse Financial, Inc is a U.S.-based life insurance company that specializes in retirement income solutions and annuity products. The firm was established in August 2017 as a spin-off from MetLife, Inc, and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since its separation, Brighthouse Financial has focused on providing products designed to help individuals and families manage retirement income needs, drawing on decades of experience in life insurance and annuity administration inherited from its parent company.

The company’s core product offerings include fixed indexed annuities, which allow policyholders to participate in market-linked gains while protecting against downside market risk, and single premium immediate annuities, which provide guaranteed lifetime income.