Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Raised to "Equal Weight" at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays upgraded Bread Financial from underweight to equal weight and raised its price target to $104 from $70, implying only modest upside from the current share price.
• Other analysts remain generally positive on BFH, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.92 across Wall Street coverage.
• Bread Financial recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $4.18 EPS on $1.02 billion in revenue, while insiders showed mixed activity with a director buying shares and the CEO selling under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $104.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $70.00. Barclays's target price would indicate a potential upside of 0.28% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on BFH. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Friday, April 24th. Loop Capital started coverage on Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Bread Financial from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $104.92.

Bread Financial Price Performance

BFH opened at $103.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $93.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Bread Financial has a twelve month low of $53.83 and a twelve month high of $109.91. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.49, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.10.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $1.18. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $992.05 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 18.79%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Bread Financial will post 10.92 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bread Financial news, Director John J. Fawcett purchased 698 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $86.43 per share, with a total value of $60,328.14. Following the purchase, the director owned 11,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $950,730. The trade was a 6.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total transaction of $1,336,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 582,241 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,877,673.10. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Bread Financial by 0.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,086,060 shares of the company's stock worth $231,111,000 after purchasing an additional 9,854 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,029,894 shares of the company's stock worth $150,273,000 after purchasing an additional 299,439 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 14,257 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,147,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,940,000 after purchasing an additional 203,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 14.7% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,009,890 shares of the company's stock worth $74,667,000 after buying an additional 129,774 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

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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