Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Short Interest Update

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, a decrease of 13.0% from the March 31st total of 1,310,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 432,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP Vonda Huss sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.85, for a total transaction of $468,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,268,698. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP Vonda Huss sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.85, for a total transaction of $468,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,268,698. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric T. Steigerwalt sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $1,174,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 390,765 shares in the company, valued at $18,350,324.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BHF. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 85.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 4.5% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 17.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 31.3% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 14,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 3,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 22.8% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 2,712 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BHF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “underperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.14.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

BHF traded up $0.26 during trading on Monday, reaching $48.99. The company had a trading volume of 171,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,852. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Brighthouse Financial has a 12 month low of $39.24 and a 12 month high of $56.24. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $48.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.81.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.83 by ($0.91). Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 27.01% and a positive return on equity of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 17.12 EPS for the current year.

About Brighthouse Financial

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.