Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Invests $338,000 in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BFH. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 36,057 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 13,679 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 88,081 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Bread Financial by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,241,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,810,000 after purchasing an additional 120,237 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bread Financial Stock Down 5.3%

NYSE:BFH traded down $2.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $50.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 623,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 879,371. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.21 and a 52-week high of $66.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.83 and a 200-day moving average of $55.01.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $956.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.73 earnings per share. Bread Financial's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.27.

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.