Great Lakes Advisors LLC Invests $5.66 Million in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 52,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,655,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BFH. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 141.2% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 127.2% during the second 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 period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 58.7% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 614 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BFH opened at $108.53 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $104.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.83 and a fifty-two week high of $114.53.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $3.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.81. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.42% and a net margin of 11.95%.The company had revenue of $993.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.15 EPS. Bread Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.18%.

Insider Transactions at Bread Financial

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BFH has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Bread Financial from $94.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.58.

About Bread Financial

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.