Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Downgraded by Argus

Argus downgraded shares of Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised shares of Bread Financial from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Bread Financial from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Bread Financial from an in-line rating to an underperform rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $39.17.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH stock opened at $40.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.14, a PEG ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.32. Bread Financial has a 52 week low of $23.19 and a 52 week high of $41.89.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.92 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $991.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $998.96 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 14.44% and a net margin of 8.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bread Financial will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 10.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Bread Financial by 1,280.6% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 2,241 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Bread Financial by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the period. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $145,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bread Financial Company Profile

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.