Graham Capital Management L.P. Increases Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. significantly increased its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc., growing its holdings by 444.9% to 42,348 shares, valuing at approximately $2.12 million.
• Research analysts have varied opinions on Bread Financial, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and target price of $64.91, while four analysts rated the stock as a Buy.
• Bread Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, translating to an annual yield of 1.3%, reflecting a healthy payout ratio of 14.21%.

Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 444.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,348 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 34,576 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. owned 0.09% of Bread Financial worth $2,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in Bread Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $92,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Bread Financial

In other Bread Financial news, Director John J. Fawcett purchased 1,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $61.79 per share, for a total transaction of $63,458.33. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 10,302 shares in the company, valued at $636,560.58. This represents a 11.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bread Financial Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Bread Financial stock traded down $0.69 on Friday, reaching $66.29. The stock had a trading volume of 348,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 455,742. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.27. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.21 and a 1 year high of $68.01.

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

Bread Financial declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Bread Financial's payout ratio is 14.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reaffirmed 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Bread Financial from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. BTIG Research set a $105.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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.