Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Receives $59.69 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two 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 twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.69.

BFH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays increased their target price on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Compass Point increased 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.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

BFH opened at $49.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.42 and a 200-day moving average of $56.21. Bread Financial has a 52-week low of $32.10 and a 52-week high of $66.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its 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 return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $104,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 550.8% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 462,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,228,000 after acquiring an additional 391,272 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $23,740,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,207,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,724,000 after purchasing an additional 286,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,121,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,353,000 after purchasing an additional 260,283 shares in the last quarter. 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.