Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $3.76 Million in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio initiated a $3.76 million position in Bread Financial during the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively owned 99.52% of the company.
• Bread Financial reported quarterly EPS of $3.55, exceeding estimates of $2.74, while revenue rose 6.9% year over year to $993 million. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $112.08.
• The stock opened at $108.83, near its 52-week high, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, equivalent to a 0.8% annualized yield.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 34,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,757,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.09% of Bread Financial 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. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in Bread Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $466,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Bread Financial in the second quarter worth $65,806,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the second quarter worth $17,194,000. Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the second quarter valued at $350,000. Finally, Miller Value Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $14,389,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Praniti Lakhwara sold 2,802 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.12, for a total transaction of $297,348.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,458 shares in the company, valued at $473,082.96. This trade represents a 38.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BFH. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a "buy" rating and set a $119.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bread Financial from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Bread Financial from $105.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Bread Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.08.

Bread Financial Stock Up 2.2%

Bread Financial stock opened at $108.83 on Friday. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $53.83 and a one year high of $114.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $105.39 and a 200 day moving average of $91.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.10.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $3.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.81. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.42% and a net margin of 11.95%.The business had revenue of $993.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $959.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 12.1 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.18%.

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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