Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 19,600 Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Bread Financial Holdings, buying 19,600 shares worth about $1.47 million in the first quarter.
• Bread Financial has seen notable institutional interest, with several funds increasing or initiating stakes; overall, 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutions.
• Analysts are generally positive on BFH, with an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $98.67, while the stock recently traded around $102.10 after strong quarterly earnings beat expectations.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 19,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,468,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BFH. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $14,090,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 38,301.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 215,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,977,000 after acquiring an additional 215,253 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 100.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 716,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,059,000 after acquiring an additional 359,088 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,824,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 101.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,593,000 after acquiring an additional 17,680 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BFH shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Bread Financial from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 price objective on Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bread Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.67.

Bread Financial Price Performance

NYSE BFH opened at $102.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.83 and a 1 year high of $109.91. The company has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 8.36, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $93.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.52.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $1.18. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $992.05 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 18.79%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Roger H. Ballou sold 9,687 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total value of $874,929.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,079 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,735.28. This represents a 24.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total value of $1,336,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 582,241 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,877,673.10. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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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