Pzena Investment Management LLC Sells 14,726 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Pzena Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 1.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 785,417 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,726 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $43,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vista Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vista Investment Management now owns 22,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 180.0% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 19,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 12,495 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bread Financial by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,273,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,120,000 after purchasing an additional 30,962 shares during the last quarter. Brooktree Capital Management increased its stake in Bread Financial by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brooktree Capital Management now owns 164,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,151,000 after purchasing an additional 8,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 2.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 113,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,348,000 after buying an additional 2,998 shares during the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bread Financial Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:BFH opened at $74.41 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.75. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.21 and a 12 month high of $82.03.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $954.74 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

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

Bread Financial declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Bread Financial from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, January 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.09.

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.