Bank of Nova Scotia Makes New $2.32 Million Investment in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 21,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,319,000. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.06% of Bread Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Bread Financial during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bread Financial by 127.2% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Bread Financial by 58.7% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bread Financial Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE BFH opened at $107.60 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.97. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $53.83 and a one year high of $114.53. The firm has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $3.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $993.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $959.32 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.42% and a net margin of 11.95%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is currently 7.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BFH. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Bread Financial from $103.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research cut Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $120.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.08.

Insider Activity

In other Bread Financial news, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total value of $1,336,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 582,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,877,673.10. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Praniti Lakhwara sold 2,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.12, for a total transaction of $297,348.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,082.96. This represents a 38.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.