Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $81.0833.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BFH shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Friday, March 27th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Bread Financial from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research lowered Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, December 4th.

Bread Financial Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Bread Financial stock opened at $73.07 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.74, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.11. Bread Financial has a 1 year low of $38.21 and a 1 year high of $82.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $73.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.07.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $1.67. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The business had revenue of $975.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $954.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.49%.

Bread Financial announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 46.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 345,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,323,000 after purchasing an additional 109,864 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,889,000 after purchasing an additional 376,920 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Bread Financial by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 157,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,904,000 after purchasing an additional 4,624 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.