Brighthouse Financial Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:BHF)

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 10,094 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 692% compared to the typical volume of 1,275 call options.

Institutional Trading of Brighthouse Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the second quarter valued at $341,422,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 1.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,555,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,926,000 after acquiring an additional 60,791 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,070,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,375,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Brighthouse Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $54,895,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 64.5% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 642,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,491,000 after purchasing an additional 251,993 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BHF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Brighthouse Financial to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings cut Brighthouse Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brighthouse Financial has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $60.50.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Up 2.6%

NASDAQ BHF traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $53.36. 464,630 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 725,862. Brighthouse Financial has a 52-week low of $44.51 and a 52-week high of $66.80. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 4.26, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.86 by ($0.41). Brighthouse Financial had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 12.49%.The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.43 EPS. Brighthouse Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial will post 18.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Brighthouse Financial

Brighthouse Financial, Inc is a U.S.-based insurance company focused on helping individuals achieve financial security through annuity and life insurance products. The company serves retail customers, as well as institutions and distribution partners, through a network that includes independent agents, banks, broker-dealers and other financial professionals.

Brighthouse Financial offers fixed, indexed and variable annuities designed to provide retirement income, tax-deferred growth and death-benefit features.