Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH Shares Sold by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 46.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,720 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,471 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.08% of Bread Financial worth $1,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Bread Financial by 241.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 537,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,711,000 after acquiring an additional 380,039 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 104.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,889,000 after purchasing an additional 376,920 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 44.5% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 943,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,628,000 after purchasing an additional 290,803 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the second quarter worth about $16,599,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,720,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,281,000 after purchasing an additional 248,401 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Trading Down 4.2%

NYSE:BFH opened at $72.08 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.65, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.99. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.21 and a 12-month high of $82.03.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $1.67. The company had revenue of $975.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $954.74 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 17.92%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 8.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BFH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.09.

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.