Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) has been upgraded from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating increased investor confidence in the stock.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.14, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.85.
• Despite the positive earnings, revenue for Bread Financial was down 1.1% year-over-year, coming in at $929 million against expectations of $944.69 million.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on BFH. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $52.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. BTIG Research set a $105.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bread Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.42.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:BFH traded up $2.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $63.32. 1,085,395 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 647,762. Bread Financial has a one year low of $38.21 and a one year high of $66.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.38. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $55.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $1.29. Bread Financial had a net margin of 6.05% and a return on equity of 13.10%. The company had revenue of $929.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $944.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,848,495 shares of the company's stock worth $357,109,000 after buying an additional 36,057 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $104,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 5.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,461,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,209,000 after acquiring an additional 79,709 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,452,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,299,000 after buying an additional 13,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,320,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,127,000 after buying an additional 409,877 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bread Financial

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.