Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts currently give Bread Financial a consensus “Moderate Buy”, based on 14 brokerages, with an average 12-month price target of $94.25.
• The company beat its quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $4.18 versus $3.00 expected and revenue of $1.02 billion versus $992.05 million forecast.
• Bread Financial also announced a $0.23 quarterly dividend and a $600 million share buyback plan, while a director recently bought shares and another sold a larger block of stock.

Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.25.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BFH. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bread Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Loop Capital began coverage on Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Bread Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 698 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $86.43 per share, with a total value of $60,328.14. Following the purchase, the director owned 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $950,730. This represents a 6.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roger H. Ballou sold 9,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total transaction of $874,929.84. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,735.28. The trade was a 24.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,273,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $294,120,000 after purchasing an additional 30,962 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,086,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $231,111,000 after purchasing an additional 9,854 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,029,894 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,273,000 after purchasing an additional 299,439 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,555,968 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,776,000 after purchasing an additional 65,223 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,159,731 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Bread Financial Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Bread Financial stock opened at $86.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $81.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.12. Bread Financial has a twelve month low of $49.17 and a twelve month high of $99.13.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $1.18. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $992.05 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.79% and a net margin of 11.90%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.86 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Bread Financial will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.53%.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Company Profile

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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