Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 252,642 Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Hudson Bay Capital Management bought a new stake of 252,642 shares of Bread Financial (about $14.09M), representing roughly a 0.55% ownership position as of its latest SEC filing.
• The Board authorized a $600 million stock buyback, allowing the company to repurchase up to about 19% of outstanding shares—a move typically signalling management believes the stock is undervalued.
• Bread Financial reported a substantial quarterly beat with $2.07 EPS vs. $0.40 consensus and $975M in revenue (vs. $954.74M expected), alongside a net margin of 11.02% and ROE of 17.92%.

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 252,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,090,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP owned about 0.55% of Bread Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prana Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $278,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Bread Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Tweedy Browne Co LLC raised its position in Bread Financial by 104.4% in the third quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 16,851 shares of the company's stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 8,606 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Bread Financial by 8,300.0% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 840 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $390,000. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Bread Financial Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of BFH stock opened at $73.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $38.21 and a one year high of $82.03. The company's fifty day moving average price is $73.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.80, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $1.67. The company had revenue of $975.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.74 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 17.92%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio is 8.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BFH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Bread Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $84.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research lowered Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Bank of America set a $92.00 price target on Bread Financial and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.08.

Bread Financial Company Profile

Bread Financial, formerly known as Alliance Data Systems, is a Columbus, Ohio–based financial services company that specializes in providing private label credit programs, co-brand credit cards and digital payment solutions for retail partners. The company designs, issues and services proprietary credit products, enabling merchants to offer branded financing options that drive customer loyalty and increase basket sizes at the point of sale. Through its Bread technology platform, Bread Financial delivers installment-based payment options that integrate directly into e-commerce and in-store checkout experiences.

In addition to its core credit offerings, Bread Financial provides analytics, marketing and loyalty services to help merchants better understand consumer behavior and optimize promotional strategies.

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