Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Key Points

• Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, acquiring 74,423 additional shares, bringing its total ownership to 308,173 shares, valued at approximately $15.4 million.
• Analysts have adjusted their price targets for Bread Financial, with Royal Bank Of Canada raising its target from $65 to $74, while other firms have varied ratings ranging from "buy" to "underweight."
• Bread Financial recently announced a $0.21 quarterly dividend, equating to an annualized yield of 1.4%, as the company continues to navigate changing market dynamics.

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 31.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 308,173 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 74,423 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC owned 0.66% of Bread Financial worth $15,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $104,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Bread Financial by 550.8% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 462,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,228,000 after acquiring an additional 391,272 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,545,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Bread Financial by 45.6% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 506,168 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,349,000 after acquiring an additional 158,557 shares during the period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,523,000. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bread Financial

In other Bread Financial news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 1,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $61.79 per share, with a total value of $63,458.33. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 10,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $636,560.58. This trade represents a 11.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Bread Financial Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE BFH traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, hitting $61.32. 139,831 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 835,646. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $58.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.21 and a 12-month high of $66.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.42.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $1.29. The company had revenue of $929.00 million during 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%. Bread Financial's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BFH. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Bread Financial from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $105.00 target price on Bread Financial and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.42.

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.