VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Has $2.19 Million Stock Holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 367.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,300 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,900 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned approximately 0.08% of Bread Financial worth $2,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Bread Financial by 16.9% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,720,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,281,000 after purchasing an additional 248,401 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,490,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,151,000 after buying an additional 28,901 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,233,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,436,000 after buying an additional 247,437 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 800,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,704,000 after buying an additional 71,939 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE BFH opened at $75.34 on Friday. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.21 and a 12-month high of $78.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.27.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $1.91. Bread Financial had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 15.97%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 23rd that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Bread Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on BFH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.09.

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.