Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $59.69.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Bread Financial by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Bread Financial by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 30,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,871,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE BFH opened at $49.95 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. Bread Financial has a fifty-two week low of $32.10 and a fifty-two week high of $66.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. On average, analysts forecast that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.14%.

Bread Financial Company Profile

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc provides tech-forward payment and lending solutions to customers and consumer-based industries in North America. It offers credit card and other loans financing services, including risk management solutions, account origination, and funding services for private label and co-brand credit card programs, as well as through Bread partnerships; and Comenity-branded general purpose cash-back credit.