Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Short Interest Up 11.1% in December

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,400,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the November 30th total of 1,260,000 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 370,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 4,265 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.04, for a total value of $196,360.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,971,502.48. The trade was a 4.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value 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 trade represents a 20.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BHF. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,314,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $104,240,000 after purchasing an additional 50,441 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 204.6% during the second quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 135,730 shares of the company's stock worth $5,883,000 after buying an additional 91,175 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in Brighthouse Financial by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 153,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,665,000 after buying an additional 17,329 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 102.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 160,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,223,000 after acquiring an additional 81,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $1,404,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.24% of the company's stock.

Brighthouse Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

BHF traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 286,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 418,182. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.36 and a beta of 1.06. Brighthouse Financial has a twelve month low of $40.00 and a twelve month high of $54.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $49.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.59.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.51). Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.18 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.47 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BHF. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.75.

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.