Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Position Boosted by ExodusPoint Capital Management LP

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 101,222 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $6,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BFH. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in Bread Financial by 2,083.3% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 207.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Bread Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on BFH. Morgan Stanley raised Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point increased their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bread Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.67.

Bread Financial Stock Down 6.4 %

Shares of NYSE BFH opened at $41.94 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $54.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.11. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.10 and a 52-week high of $66.71. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 7.56, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.58.

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

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is presently 15.14%.

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

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.