Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Receives $80.09 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $81.0833.

BFH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bread Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Bread Financial from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Bread Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $92.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, December 4th.

Bread Financial Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of BFH stock opened at $71.53 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.28. Bread Financial has a 52 week low of $38.21 and a 52 week high of $82.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.60, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $1.67. The company had revenue of $975.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Bread Financial will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Bread Financial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Bread Financial by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,273,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,120,000 after buying an additional 30,962 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 0.5% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,076,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,557,000 after acquiring an additional 16,143 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,029,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,273,000 after acquiring an additional 299,439 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 4.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,555,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,776,000 after acquiring an additional 65,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,233,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,436,000 after purchasing an additional 247,437 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

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.