DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Decreases Holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main cut its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,191 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,992 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned 0.12% of Bread Financial worth $3,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,848,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $357,109,000 after acquiring an additional 36,057 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,452,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,299,000 after acquiring an additional 13,679 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,382,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,393,000 after acquiring an additional 88,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,207,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,724,000 after acquiring an additional 286,720 shares during the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BFH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.27.

Bread Financial Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of BFH traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $55.59. The stock had a trading volume of 945,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 878,611. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.21 and a 12 month high of $66.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Bread Financial's payout ratio is currently 14.92%.

Bread Financial announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management 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.