Ralph Andretta Sells 15,000 Shares of Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Stock

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) CEO Ralph Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Bread Financial Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE BFH opened at $91.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.12. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.17 and a fifty-two week high of $99.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $1.18. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.79% and a net margin of 11.90%.The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $992.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is presently 7.53%.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,273,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,120,000 after acquiring an additional 30,962 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,086,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,111,000 after purchasing an additional 9,854 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,029,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,273,000 after purchasing an additional 299,439 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Bread Financial by 4.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,555,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,776,000 after purchasing an additional 65,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Bread Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,159,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,257 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America set a $92.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Bread Financial from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.25.

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.