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

Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.69.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BFH shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Compass Point increased 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BFH opened at $49.95 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.09. 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 1-year low of $32.10 and a 1-year high of $66.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. Analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.14%.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $536,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 42.2% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 6,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Bread Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,550,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $34,759,000 after buying an additional 13,484 shares during the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.