Public Sector Pension Investment Board Buys 61,092 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. by 49.3%, holding 184,990 shares valued at approximately $9.26 million.
• Bread Financial reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the latest quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations, but its revenue of $929 million was slightly below forecasts.
• Facing mixed ratings from analysts, Bread Financial has an average rating of "Hold" with a consensus target price of $64.42.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 49.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 184,990 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 61,092 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.40% of Bread Financial worth $9,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 529,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,495,000 after buying an additional 160,580 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 308,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,433,000 after buying an additional 74,423 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bread Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $590,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 506,168 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,349,000 after buying an additional 158,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.42.

Bread Financial Trading Down 2.8%

Bread Financial stock traded down $1.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $59.76. The stock had a trading volume of 554,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 665,536. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.42. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.21 and a 12 month high of $66.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $1.29. The business had revenue of $929.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $944.69 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 13.10% and a net margin of 6.05%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.21%.

Insider Transactions at Bread Financial

In other news, Director John J. Fawcett purchased 1,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $61.79 per share, for a total transaction of $63,458.33. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,560.58. The trade was a 11.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.