Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires 251,700 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFHFree Report) by 5,654.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 256,151 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 251,700 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned about 0.52% of Bread Financial worth $15,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Bread Financial by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,034,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,804,000 after acquiring an additional 41,012 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,155,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,012,000 after buying an additional 13,459 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,121,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,353,000 after buying an additional 260,283 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 880,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,910,000 after buying an additional 243,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 730,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,759,000 after buying an additional 13,484 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bread Financial Price Performance

BFH opened at $48.24 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.10 and a 12 month high of $66.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFHGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 12.41%. On average, research analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on BFH. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point upped their price objective on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.69.

Read Our Latest Analysis on BFH

Bread Financial Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH)

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