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

Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $81.0833.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BFH shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group started coverage on Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $92.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Friday, March 27th.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Bread Financial by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 46.5% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 345,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,323,000 after acquiring an additional 109,864 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 104.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,889,000 after acquiring an additional 376,920 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 3.0% during 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 acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $65,000. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Bread Financial stock opened at $73.07 on Friday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.11. Bread Financial has a 12-month low of $38.21 and a 12-month high of $82.03.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $1.67. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 11.02%.The firm had revenue of $975.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Bread Financial will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.49%.

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.