Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

Key Points

• The New York State Common Retirement Fund has significantly reduced its stake in Bread Financial Holdings by selling 19,400 shares, which represents a 53.3% decrease.
• Bread Financial recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.14, surpassing analyst expectations, although its revenue declined by 1.1% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.33%, indicating a sustainable payout ratio of 14.92%.

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 53.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,019 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,400 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Bread Financial were worth $852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 182.8% during the 1st 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 increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 28.0% during the 1st 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, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Bread Financial Price Performance

BFH stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $64.03. The stock had a trading volume of 57,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 854,771. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.21 and a 52-week high of $66.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $56.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.30. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.38.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $929.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bread Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, April 28th. BTIG Research set a $105.00 target price on Bread Financial and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.42.

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.