Royce & Associates LP Increases Stock Holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Royce & Associates LP raised its position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 28.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 154,040 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,365 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $9,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BFH. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $810,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Bread Financial by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,155,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,012,000 after purchasing an additional 13,459 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,550,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Factorial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 78.9% during the 3rd quarter. Factorial Partners LLC now owns 34,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Bread Financial stock opened at $47.88 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.40. The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $32.10 and a one year high of $66.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced 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, equities research analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often 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 will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on BFH shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.69.

Bread Financial Profile

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.