Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Stock Rating Upgraded by 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 released on Saturday.

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

Bread Financial Stock Down 2.0%

BFH traded down $1.30 on Friday, reaching $62.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 798,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 654,402. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.38. Bread Financial has a fifty-two week low of $38.21 and a fifty-two week high of $66.71.

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

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Bread Financial's payout ratio is currently 14.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BFH. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $104,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Bread Financial by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,320,418 shares of the company's stock worth $66,127,000 after purchasing an additional 409,877 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Bread Financial by 550.8% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 462,307 shares of the company's stock worth $28,228,000 after purchasing an additional 391,272 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $23,740,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Bread Financial by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company's stock worth $36,889,000 after purchasing an additional 376,920 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Bread Financial Company 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.