Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Bread Financial Holdings by 39%, holding approximately 0.47% of the company, valued at $10.91 million.
• Bread Financial reported a quarterly EPS of $3.14, exceeding analyst estimates, despite a 1.1% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company plans to distribute a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 14.21%.

Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 39.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 217,773 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 61,047 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.47% of Bread Financial worth $10,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Bread Financial by 444.9% during the first quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 42,348 shares of the company's stock worth $2,121,000 after buying an additional 34,576 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 947.5% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 639 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 22.0% during the first quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 212,841 shares of the company's stock worth $10,659,000 after acquiring an additional 38,430 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Bread Financial during the first quarter worth $92,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Bread Financial during the first quarter worth $1,854,000. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $52.00 target price (up from $45.00) on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. BTIG Research set a $105.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bread Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.91.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

BFH traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $61.89. The stock had a trading volume of 872,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 482,814. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $62.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.77. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.21 and a 1 year high of $68.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $3.14 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $929.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Bread Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

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

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

Insider Transactions at Bread Financial

In related news, Director John J. Fawcett acquired 1,027 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $61.79 per share, with a total value of $63,458.33. Following the acquisition, the director owned 10,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $636,560.58. This trade represents a 11.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

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.