Massar Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 6,705 Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Massar Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,705 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,740,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,207,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,724,000 after purchasing an additional 286,720 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 5,654.9% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 256,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,641,000 after purchasing an additional 251,700 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 474,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,983,000 after purchasing an additional 146,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 3,844.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 87,696 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,355,000 after purchasing an additional 90,038 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.00.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Bread Financial stock traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $48.87. 1,163,436 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 881,575. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.79. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.31 and a 1-year high of $66.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.58.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.76. Bread Financial had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 12.41%. The company had revenue of $970.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $956.17 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Bread Financial's payout ratio is currently 14.92%.

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.