Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.1818.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BFH. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $88.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Bread Financial from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $57.00 price target on Bread Financial and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th.

Bread Financial Stock Down 1.4%

BFH opened at $76.70 on Wednesday. Bread Financial has a one year low of $38.21 and a one year high of $78.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.23.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $1.91. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 10.08%.The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 27th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Bread Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 9.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Bread Financial by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 606,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,376,000 after purchasing an additional 5,291 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Bread Financial in the first quarter valued at $4,270,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the first quarter valued at $1,854,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the first quarter valued at $92,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 212,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,659,000 after buying an additional 38,430 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Company Profile

Bread Financial, formerly known as Alliance Data Systems, is a Columbus, Ohio–based financial services company that specializes in providing private label credit programs, co-brand credit cards and digital payment solutions for retail partners. The company designs, issues and services proprietary credit products, enabling merchants to offer branded financing options that drive customer loyalty and increase basket sizes at the point of sale. Through its Bread technology platform, Bread Financial delivers installment-based payment options that integrate directly into e-commerce and in-store checkout experiences.

In addition to its core credit offerings, Bread Financial provides analytics, marketing and loyalty services to help merchants better understand consumer behavior and optimize promotional strategies.