Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.0833.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on Bread Financial from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd.

Bread Financial Price Performance

NYSE:BFH opened at $73.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Bread Financial has a 12 month low of $38.21 and a 12 month high of $82.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.27.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Bread Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.37%.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 23rd that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BFH. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 7,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 1.7% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 11,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased 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. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 2.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

About Bread Financial

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.