VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Trims Holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems et al cut its Bread Financial stake by 83.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 32,900 shares and leaving it with 6,400 shares worth about $474,000.
• Bread Financial posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.18 beating estimates by $1.18 and revenue of $1.02 billion topping expectations; revenue rose 4.9% year over year.
• The company approved a $600 million share buyback and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, payable June 15, for an annualized yield of about 1.1%.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lowered its position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 83.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,400 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,900 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's holdings in Bread Financial were worth $474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versor Investments LP increased its stake in Bread Financial by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,183 shares of the company's stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $215,000. Tweedy Browne Co LLC grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 19,659 shares of the company's stock worth $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 2,808 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 225.0% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in Bread Financial by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 9,680 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BFH opened at $85.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.48. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.17 and a 52 week high of $99.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $1.18. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.79% and a net margin of 11.90%.The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.86 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bread Financial news, Director Roger H. Ballou sold 9,687 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total transaction of $874,929.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,716,735.28. The trade was a 24.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BFH. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America set a $92.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Bread Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.36.

About Bread Financial

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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