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

Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $59.69.

Several analysts have commented on BFH shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH stock opened at $51.87 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Bread Financial has a 12-month low of $32.10 and a 12-month high of $66.71. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.93.

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

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bread Financial in the third quarter valued at $810,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 13,459 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,550,000. Factorial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 78.9% in the third quarter. Factorial Partners LLC now owns 34,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $213,000. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.