Brighthouse Financial Slumps Midday on Double Downgrades

Investing.com - Brighthouse Financial was down in midday trade on Tuesday after being downgraded by Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) due to possible declining interest rates.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) slumped 13.6% after the news.

Credit Suisse cut the insurance company to underperform from neutral and slashed its price target to $22 from $35, according to published reports.

Analyst Andrew Kligerman said lower interest rates this year could impact the company’s earnings by $1 billion through 2021. In addition, changes in accounting practices are also likely to have a huge impact on the company's bottom line.

"In 2021 (possibly extended to 2022), FASB will implement new fair value accounting standards for insurance products with market risk guarantees, which include most variable annuities (VAs)," he noted.

Meanwhile Goldman Sachs cut Brighthouse to sell from neutral with a price target of $32, down from $39.

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