Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. by 2.8%, owning approximately 1,206,374 shares valued at $60.42 million as of the latest disclosure.
• Bread Financial reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.14, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.85, with a net margin of 6.05% despite a slight year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing a 1.3% yield, to be paid on September 12th, with a low payout ratio of 14.21%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,206,374 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,192 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 2.59% of Bread Financial worth $60,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 28.0% during 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 last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 15.0% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 2.9% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 488,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,455,000 after acquiring an additional 13,656 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $338,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 1.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 244,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,245,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Bread Financial Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE BFH traded down $0.12 on Wednesday, hitting $64.10. 111,516 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 800,520. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.21 and a fifty-two week high of $68.01. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.40.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $1.29. The business had revenue of $929.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.69 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 6.05% and a return on equity of 13.10%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. Bread Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bread Financial

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BFH. BTIG Research set a $105.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $52.00 price target (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.91.

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.