Empowered Funds LLC Has $9.27 Million Stock Holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in Bread Financial Holdings by 9.7%, now holding approximately 0.40% of the company worth $9.27 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in the company, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its stake by 28% in the first quarter.
• Bread Financial reported robust earnings of $3.14 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.85, despite a slight year-over-year revenue decline.

Empowered Funds LLC cut its holdings in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,122 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,963 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.40% of Bread Financial worth $9,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 947.5% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 639 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 182.8% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Bread Financial during the first quarter worth $92,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bread Financial Stock Up 1.4%

Bread Financial stock traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $64.10. The stock had a trading volume of 159,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,891. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $62.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.60. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.21 and a 1-year high of $68.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $3.14 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $929.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. Bread Financial's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Bread Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 27th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Bread Financial's payout ratio is 14.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bread Financial

In related news, Director John J. Fawcett purchased 1,027 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $636,560.58. This trade represents a 11.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $52.00 target price (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. BTIG Research set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Bread Financial from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.91.

About Bread Financial

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.