Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Trims Stock Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Bread Financial Holdings by 2.1%, now holding approximately 3.09 million shares valued at $154.8 million.
• Insider trading activity includes Director John J. Fawcett purchasing 1,027 shares at $61.79 each, increasing his ownership by 11.07%.
• Bread Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 12th, representing a 1.4% yield.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,092,090 shares of the company's stock after selling 66,050 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 6.64% of Bread Financial worth $154,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 120,237 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 0.8% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 728,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,468,000 after acquiring an additional 6,065 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 601,255 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,713,000 after acquiring an additional 65,138 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of BFH stock traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $63.84. 537,660 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 545,047. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.42. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.21 and a 12-month high of $66.71. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $59.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $3.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $1.29. Bread Financial had a net margin of 6.05% and a return on equity of 13.10%. The company had revenue of $929.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $944.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Bread Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Bread Financial's payout ratio is presently 14.21%.

Insider Activity at Bread Financial

In other news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 1,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $61.79 per share, with a total value of $63,458.33. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 10,302 shares in the company, valued at $636,560.58. This represents a 11.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BFH. BTIG Research set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $52.00 target price (up from $45.00) on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.91.

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.