Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Takes Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bread Financial Holdings, buying 34,026 shares valued at approximately $1.7 million, increasing their ownership to 0.07% of the company.
• Bread Financial reported $3.14 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations of $1.85, although revenue fell short of analysts’ projections.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21, with a dividend yield of 1.33%, demonstrating a payout ratio of 14.92% as of the last announcement.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 34,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,704,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Bread Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Bread Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $104,000. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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 note on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BTIG Research set a $105.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective (up from $45.00) on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.42.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BFH traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $62.91. 146,125 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 854,919. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.21 and a twelve month high of $66.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.36.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $3.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $1.29. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 13.10% and a net margin of 6.05%. The company had revenue of $929.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $944.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Bread Financial's payout ratio is 14.21%.

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.