Eric T. Steigerwalt, President and CEO of Brighthouse Financial , Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF), recently sold 25,000 shares of the company’s common stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.24, amounting to a total transaction value of approximately $1.31 million. Following this transaction, Steigerwalt retains ownership of 296,072 shares in the company. The sale was executed under a pre-established Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which was adopted earlier this year.
In other recent news, Brighthouse Financial, Inc. reported its Q3 2024 earnings, highlighting a decline in adjusted earnings to $243 million, yet emphasizing a strong capital position and growth in annuity and life insurance sales. The company's year-to-date annuity sales reached $7.8 billion, marking a 15% increase in Shield Annuity products, and life insurance sales grew by 19% to $87 million. Despite the earnings dip, Brighthouse Financial's strategic efforts to improve capital efficiency and maintain a robust risk-based capital (RBC) ratio were underscored.
The company's RBC ratio, currently estimated between 365%-385%, is set to be restored to 400%-450% with the conclusion of a reinsurance agreement. Brighthouse Financial also reported its holding company liquid assets at $1.3 billion, with $64 million in stock repurchased in Q3. These recent developments suggest a strong financial standing for the company.
Analysts noted a few challenges, including a normalized statutory loss of $300 million mainly due to new business strain and an adjusted loss of $107 million in the runoff segment. However, the company's management remains optimistic, expecting to improve its RBC ratio with the closure of a reinsurance agreement for legacy annuities by year-end and potentially mitigating new business strain with a flow reinsurance deal in 2025.
InvestingPro Insights
While Eric T. Steigerwalt's recent sale of Brighthouse Financial shares may raise eyebrows, it's important to consider the broader financial picture of the company. According to InvestingPro data, Brighthouse Financial's market capitalization stands at $3.11 billion, with the stock trading at a price-to-book ratio of 0.56 as of the last twelve months ending Q3 2024. This suggests the stock may be undervalued relative to its book value.
InvestingPro Tips highlight that management has been aggressively buying back shares, which could be seen as a vote of confidence in the company's future prospects. This share repurchase program may help explain why the stock has shown a strong return over the last three months, with InvestingPro data reporting a 16.09% price total return for that period.
Despite the CEO's recent stock sale, analysts predict that Brighthouse Financial will be profitable this year, according to another InvestingPro Tip. This positive outlook is particularly noteworthy given that the company was not profitable over the last twelve months, with a negative gross profit margin of -3.64% for the same period.
For investors seeking a more comprehensive analysis, InvestingPro offers 7 additional tips for Brighthouse Financial, providing a deeper understanding of the company's financial health and market position.
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