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

Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the sixteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.0833.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research cut Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Bread Financial from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $57.00 price target on Bread Financial and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th.

Bread Financial Trading Up 4.4%

Shares of NYSE:BFH opened at $73.78 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.45 and a 200-day moving average of $64.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.27. Bread Financial has a twelve month low of $38.21 and a twelve month high of $82.03.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.30 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 10.08%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from Bread Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 7,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 1.7% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 11,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Bread Financial by 0.9% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 25,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Bread Financial by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 269 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.