Brighthouse Financial downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

Jefferies analyst Suneet Kamath downgraded Brighthouse Financial (BHF) to Hold from Buy with an unchanged price target of $64. The firm says last week’s 22% share gain was driven by speculation, post a Financial Times article, that Brighthouse is pursuing a sale. However, Jefferies does not see a partial sale as a material catalyst for the stock. To be constructive on the shares from here, one would need to assume a high probability of an outright acquisition at a premium, which Jefferies does not feel comfortable using as a base case, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Further, if Brighthouse is pursuing such a deal now, the firm wonders if there is a negative read on the Q4 report.