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

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.1818.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BFH. Morgan Stanley set a $57.00 target price on Bread Financial and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, December 4th.

Bread Financial Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of BFH opened at $74.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. Bread Financial has a fifty-two week low of $38.21 and a fifty-two week high of $78.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.06. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.59, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.28.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $1.91. Bread Financial had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 15.97%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Bread Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is presently 9.37%.

Bread Financial declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 23rd that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $14,090,000. Prana Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Bread Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $278,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $278,000. Tweedy Browne Co LLC raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 104.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 16,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 8,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 8,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.