Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Shares Acquired by Axa S.A.

AXA S.A. raised its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,897 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,871 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A. owned approximately 0.16% of Bread Financial worth $4,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 2,083.3% in 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 during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BFH shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their target price on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.00.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BFH traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $50.49. The company had a trading volume of 609,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 878,759. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.21 and a twelve month high of $66.71. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, 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. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $47.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.55.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.76. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. The business had revenue of $970.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $956.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.73 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.92%.

Bread Financial declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.