Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) was upgraded by analysts at Barclays from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $104.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $70.00. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.28% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Bread Financial from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.92.

Bread Financial Trading Up 1.5%

BFH opened at $103.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. Bread Financial has a one year low of $53.83 and a one year high of $109.91. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $93.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.91.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $1.18. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $992.05 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 18.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bread Financial will post 10.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total value of $1,336,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 582,241 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John J. Fawcett bought 698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $86.43 per share, for a total transaction of $60,328.14. Following the purchase, the director owned 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $950,730. This represents a 6.78% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 376,920 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 3.0% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 4,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $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.