Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 6,810,374 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 95.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 298,208 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,810,374 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.60% of Bread Financial worth $18,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,480,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Bread Financial by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 2,944 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 84,876 shares of the company's stock worth $5,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 36.1% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Bread Financial Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of BFH traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $53.38. 629,724 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 875,028. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.62, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.33. The business's 50-day moving average price is $48.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.78. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.21 and a 1 year high of $66.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $970.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $956.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Compass Point boosted their target price on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.27.

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.