Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $105.51 and last traded at $105.4430, with a volume of 128249 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $103.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BFH shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.42.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.12.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $1.18. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 18.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.86 earnings per share. Bread Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 7.53%.

Bread Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Bread Financial

In other news, Director Roger H. Ballou sold 9,687 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total transaction of $874,929.84. Following the sale, the director owned 30,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,735.28. The trade was a 24.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John J. Fawcett acquired 698 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $86.43 per share, for a total transaction of $60,328.14. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $950,730. The trade was a 6.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 223.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 665,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,290,000 after purchasing an additional 459,916 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 380,039 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,889,000 after buying an additional 376,920 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 359,088 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Bread Financial by 899.4% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 350,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,216,000 after buying an additional 315,034 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.