Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Trims Stock Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lessened its holdings in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 306,886 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,810 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.67% of Bread Financial worth $22,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Bread Financial by 12.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 209,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,658,000 after buying an additional 22,745 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Bread Financial during the third quarter valued at $14,090,000. UBS Group AG grew its position in Bread Financial by 100.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 716,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,059,000 after buying an additional 359,088 shares during the period. Brooktree Capital Management grew its position in Bread Financial by 5.1% during the third quarter. Brooktree Capital Management now owns 164,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,151,000 after buying an additional 8,002 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Bread Financial by 38,301.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 215,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,977,000 after buying an additional 215,253 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on BFH shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total transaction of $1,336,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 582,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,877,673.10. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Roger H. Ballou sold 9,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total transaction of $874,929.84. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,079 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,735.28. The trade was a 24.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE BFH opened at $101.62 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.13. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.63 and a 52-week high of $103.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $1.18. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 18.79%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.53%.

Bread Financial declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.