Ameriprise Financial Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 95.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 298,208 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,810,374 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of Bread Financial worth $18,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in Bread Financial by 2,083.3% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 524 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Bread Financial during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Bread Financial by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BFH traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.12. The company had a trading volume of 56,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 870,893. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $48.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.78. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.21 and a twelve month 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $970.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $956.17 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 12.41%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.73 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.92%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BFH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Compass Point upped their target price on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target 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 upped their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Bread Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.27.

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.