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

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $112.0769.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and issued a $119.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Zacks Research downgraded Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Bread Financial from $94.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH stock opened at $105.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $105.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.37. Bread Financial has a 52 week low of $53.83 and a 52 week high of $114.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.11.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $3.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.81. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.95% and a return on equity of 18.42%. The company had revenue of $993.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $959.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bread Financial will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Praniti Lakhwara sold 2,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 4,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,082.96. This trade represents a 38.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 5,814.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 17,269 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Bread Financial by 100.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 716,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,059,000 after acquiring an additional 359,088 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 38,301.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 215,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,977,000 after purchasing an additional 215,253 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 18.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 630,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,198,000 after purchasing an additional 96,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 240.1% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 156,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,600,000 after purchasing an additional 110,616 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.