Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Shares Up 6% - Here's What Happened

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $54.80 and last traded at $55.41. Approximately 175,068 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 873,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BFH shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.27.

Bread Financial Stock Down 5.3%

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 fifty day simple moving average is $49.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.09. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Bread Financial's payout ratio is 14.92%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,977 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 241,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,721,000 after purchasing an additional 6,888 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 36,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,224,000 after purchasing an additional 14,800 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $308,000. Hedge funds and other 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.