Man Group plc Has $3.75 Million Stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Man Group plc increased its position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 159.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,389 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 37,749 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned 0.12% of Bread Financial worth $3,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 worth $357,109,000 after buying an additional 36,057 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $104,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased 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 worth $89,299,000 after buying an additional 13,679 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased 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 worth $84,393,000 after buying an additional 88,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $75,810,000 after buying an additional 120,237 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH traded up $1.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 461,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 870,774. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $38.21 and a one year high of $66.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 9.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.33. The stock's 50-day moving average is $49.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.57.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.76. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. The company had revenue of $970.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $956.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.73 earnings per share. Bread Financial's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Bread Financial's payout ratio is 14.92%.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BFH shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price 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, Barclays upped their target price on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.27.

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.