Millennium Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 236,038 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 26,368 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.47% of Bread Financial worth $14,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,248 shares of the company's stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,202 shares of the company's stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,872 shares of the company's stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,329 shares of the company's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 30,641 shares of the company's stock worth $1,871,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on BFH. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays upped their target price on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.27.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Bread Financial stock traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $51.49. The stock had a trading volume of 24,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,432. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.21 and a 1-year high of $66.71. The stock's fifty day moving average is $49.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.30, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.33.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.76. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. The business had revenue of $970.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $956.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.73 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.92%.

About Bread Financial

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.