American Century Companies Inc. Has $73.21 Million Stock Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has increased its stake in Bread Financial Holdings by 5.8%, acquiring a total position worth $73.21 million with approximately 1.46 million shares.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Bread Financial, with ratings ranging from sell to buy, but the overall consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target of $64.42.
• Bread Financial reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.14, significantly surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.85, despite revenue falling short of forecasts.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,461,844 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 79,709 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 3.14% of Bread Financial worth $73,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 182.8% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 28.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $52.00 price objective (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.42.

Bread Financial Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:BFH opened at $60.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 10.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.03. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.21 and a 1 year high of $66.71.

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

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.21%.

Insider Activity at Bread Financial

In other news, Director John J. Fawcett purchased 1,027 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $61.79 per share, with a total value of $63,458.33. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $636,560.58. This represents a 11.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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