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

Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.0909.

BFH has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bread Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $92.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th.

Bread Financial Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE BFH opened at $75.98 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.26. Bread Financial has a 12-month low of $38.21 and a 12-month high of $82.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $1.67. The firm had revenue of $975.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.74 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 17.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Curat Global LLC boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 81,068.5% during the second quarter. Curat Global LLC now owns 450,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,732,000 after buying an additional 449,930 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of 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 position in shares of Bread Financial by 104.8% during the 1st 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 Group AG increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 100.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 716,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,059,000 after purchasing an additional 359,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,029,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,273,000 after purchasing an additional 299,439 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.