Short Interest in Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Increases By 61.8%

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,780,000 shares, a growth of 61.8% from the March 31st total of 1,100,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 930,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 3.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 912,242 shares of the company's stock worth $52,901,000 after purchasing an additional 28,080 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 64,801 shares of the company's stock worth $3,758,000 after buying an additional 16,711 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 15.0% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,138 shares of the company's stock worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Brighthouse Financial during the first quarter valued at $231,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 15.7% in the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the period. 81.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ BHF traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $58.31. The stock had a trading volume of 151,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 852,822. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Brighthouse Financial has a 1 year low of $40.00 and a 1 year high of $64.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 0.96.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $5.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.56 by $1.32. Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 26.94% and a net margin of 8.21%. On average, research analysts expect that Brighthouse Financial will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on BHF. Barclays upgraded Brighthouse Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $52.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Brighthouse Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.00.

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.