Zacks Research Upgrades Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Bread Financial from “hold” to “strong buy.” Analysts overall rate the stock “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus price target of $112.08.
• Bread Financial’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $3.55 versus the $2.74 consensus and revenue of $993 million, up 6.9% year over year.
• Shares opened at $102.04, down 2.3%, while institutional investors own a substantial 99.52% of the company. A director recently sold 2,802 shares at an average price of $106.12.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley set a $107.00 price target on Bread Financial in a report on Friday, July 24th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Bread Financial from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Bread Financial from $120.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.08.

Bread Financial Stock Down 2.3%

BFH stock opened at $102.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.10. Bread Financial has a 52-week low of $53.83 and a 52-week high of $114.53. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $105.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.74.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $3.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.81. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.95% and a return on equity of 18.42%. The firm had revenue of $993.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.15 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 12.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Praniti Lakhwara sold 2,802 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.12, for a total transaction of $297,348.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,458 shares in the company, valued at $473,082.96. The trade was a 38.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 8.5% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 4,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $303,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 10,413.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,695,743 shares of the company's stock worth $617,134,000 after purchasing an additional 5,641,568 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

About Bread Financial

Bread Financial, formerly known as Alliance Data Systems, is a Columbus, Ohio–based financial services company that specializes in providing private label credit programs, co-brand credit cards and digital payment solutions for retail partners. The company designs, issues and services proprietary credit products, enabling merchants to offer branded financing options that drive customer loyalty and increase basket sizes at the point of sale. Through its Bread technology platform, Bread Financial delivers installment-based payment options that integrate directly into e-commerce and in-store checkout experiences.

In addition to its core credit offerings, Bread Financial provides analytics, marketing and loyalty services to help merchants better understand consumer behavior and optimize promotional strategies.

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