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

Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 21,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,000. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 0.05% of Bread Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 141.2% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Bread Financial by 127.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Bread Financial by 8,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 840 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Bread Financial

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Bread Financial from $103.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Bread Financial from $94.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.00.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

BFH stock opened at $107.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 8.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $98.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.76. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.83 and a 1-year high of $110.14.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $3.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.81. The company had revenue of $992.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.32 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.42% and a net margin of 11.95%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.