Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brighthouse Financial news, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total value of $297,397.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,571,093.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP John Rosenthal sold 5,000 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.22, for a total value of $226,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 91,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,126,867.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Edward A. Spehar sold 7,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total transaction of $297,397.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,640 shares in the company, valued at $1,571,093.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 37,125 shares of company stock valued at $1,665,248. 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 modified their holdings of BHF. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Brighthouse Financial by 97.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $89,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Brighthouse Financial in the 1st quarter worth $110,000. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BHF traded up $0.92 on Friday, reaching $46.16. 273,602 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 428,805. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of -2.42 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company's 50 day moving average is $43.86 and its 200-day moving average is $45.52. Brighthouse Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.00 and a fifty-two week high of $56.24.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $5.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.36 by $1.21. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. Brighthouse Financial had a positive return on equity of 26.22% and a negative net margin of 22.03%. Brighthouse Financial's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BHF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays assumed coverage on Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $56.00 to $52.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brighthouse Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.63.

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.