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

Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.69.

Several brokerages have commented on BFH. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of BFH opened at $49.95 on Monday. Bread Financial has a 12 month low of $32.10 and a 12 month high of $66.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $56.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.21. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 15.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Bread Financial by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Bread Financial by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 30,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,871,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

About Bread Financial

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.