Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 8,471 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 26.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,513 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,471 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $1,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 64.6% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $201,000. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bread Financial Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BFH opened at $53.99 on Friday. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.10 and a 12-month high of $66.71. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.93. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is 15.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BFH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.69.

About Bread Financial

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.