Optimize Financial Inc Takes $371,000 Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Optimize Financial Inc. has acquired a new stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc., purchasing 7,407 shares valued at approximately $371,000.
• Major institutional investors have been increasing their holdings in Bread Financial, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. growing its stake by 104.8%, now owning 736,604 shares.
• Bread Financial recently announced a dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.3%, and initiated a stock repurchase program indicating management's belief in the stock's undervaluation.

Optimize Financial Inc bought a new stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 5.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,461,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,209,000 after buying an additional 79,709 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 45.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,320,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,127,000 after buying an additional 409,877 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 104.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,889,000 after buying an additional 376,920 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 0.8% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 728,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,468,000 after buying an additional 6,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 0.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 606,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,376,000 after buying an additional 5,291 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BFH. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $52.00 price target (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Bread Financial from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $105.00 price target on Bread Financial and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 1,027 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $61.79 per share, with a total value of $63,458.33. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,560.58. This represents a 11.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bread Financial Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:BFH opened at $64.30 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business's 50 day moving average is $61.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.40. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.21 and a 52 week high of $68.01. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.46.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $3.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $1.29. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 13.10% and a net margin of 6.05%.The company had revenue of $929.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $944.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.66 EPS. Bread Financial's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Bread Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.21%.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Company 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.

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