Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $96.4167.

Several brokerages have commented on BFH. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the company’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 owned 582,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,877,673.10. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John J. Fawcett acquired 698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $86.43 per share, for a total transaction of $60,328.14. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $950,730. This trade represents a 6.78% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 0.9% during 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 during the period. Vista Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vista Investment Management now owns 22,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 1.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 16,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of BFH opened at $101.16 on Wednesday. Bread Financial has a one year low of $51.31 and a one year high of $105.20. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $992.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Bread Financial will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 7.53%.

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.