Miller Value Partners LLC Sells 68,595 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Miller Value Partners cut its Bread Financial stake by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 68,595 shares and leaving it with 201,415 shares worth about $14.9 million.
• Several other institutions added to or initiated positions in Bread Financial, while hedge funds and institutional investors still control 99.52% of the stock.
• Bread Financial has seen mixed sentiment: insiders recently sold shares, but the company beat Q1 earnings expectations, approved a $600 million share buyback, and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share.

Miller Value Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 25.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,415 shares of the company's stock after selling 68,595 shares during the quarter. Bread Financial accounts for 5.3% of Miller Value Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Miller Value Partners LLC owned 0.44% of Bread Financial worth $14,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $656,000. Cinctive Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $2,078,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $381,000. Abel Hall LLC purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $477,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Roger H. Ballou sold 9,687 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total transaction of $874,929.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,716,735.28. The trade was a 24.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 582,241 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,877,673.10. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BFH shares. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 target price on Bread Financial in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Bread Financial from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bread Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.42.

Bread Financial Price Performance

BFH stock opened at $101.52 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 8.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.12. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.37 and a 12-month high of $105.20. The business's fifty day moving average price is $88.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.95.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last released 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. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.79% and a net margin of 11.90%.The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $992.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.86 EPS. Bread Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Bread Financial's payout ratio is presently 7.53%.

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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