Ritholtz Wealth Management Buys Shares of 15,508 Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management opened a new stake in Bread Financial by purchasing 15,508 shares in Q4, valued at approximately $1.15 million.
• Bread Financial crushed expectations in the latest quarter with $2.07 EPS vs. $0.40 consensus and $975 million in revenue, delivering an 11.02% net margin and 17.92% return on equity.
• The company’s board authorized a $600 million share buyback (up to ~19% of shares) and recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.23 (annualized $0.92, ~1.1% yield), signaling management confidence in the stock.

Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 15,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,148,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BFH. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 141.2% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 562 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 127.2% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 8,300.0% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 840 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 136.2% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 888 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 1,509.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 885 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH stock opened at $82.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.07. The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.63, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.11. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.57 and a 12 month high of $83.30.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $1.67. The firm had revenue of $975.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.74 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 17.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio is 8.49%.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on BFH shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America set a $92.00 price objective on Bread Financial and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.92.

Bread Financial 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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