Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,404 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bread Financial in the third quarter worth about $810,000. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,977 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Bread Financial by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 241,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,721,000 after acquiring an additional 6,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 36,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after purchasing an additional 14,800 shares during the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price target on Bread Financial and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bread Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of Bread Financial stock opened at $48.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.32 and its 200 day moving average is $55.65. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $38.21 and a one year high of $66.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $970.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $956.17 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.92%.

Bread Financial declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Company Profile

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc provides tech-forward payment and lending solutions to customers and consumer-based industries in North America. It offers credit card and other loans financing services, including risk management solutions, account origination, and funding services for private label and co-brand credit card programs, as well as through Bread partnerships; and Comenity-branded general purpose cash-back credit.