Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Board of Directors Announces Stock Repurchase Program

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BFH opened at $70.87 on Friday. Bread Financial has a fifty-two week low of $38.21 and a fifty-two week high of $82.03. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 6.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.43.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $1.67. The firm had revenue of $975.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.74 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 17.92%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bread Financial will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is presently 8.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $92.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.09.

About Bread Financial

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.