Insider Selling: Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Director Sells 9,687 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director Roger Ballou sold 9,687 shares on April 24 at an average of $90.32 for about $874,930, reducing his stake by 24.36% to 30,079 shares valued at roughly $2.72 million.
• Bread Financial beat expectations with quarterly EPS of $4.18 (vs. $3.00 est.) and $1.02 billion in revenue, and its board authorized a $600 million share buyback program that could repurchase up to 19% of outstanding shares.
• The stock traded around $88.03 with elevated volume, the company has a market cap of about $3.65 billion and a P/E of 7.21, pays a $0.23 quarterly dividend (≈1.0% yield), and carries a consensus analyst rating of Hold with a $92.55 price target.

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) Director Roger Ballou sold 9,687 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total transaction of $874,929.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,735.28. This trade represents a 24.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BFH traded up $1.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $88.03. 1,295,463 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 826,393. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.04 and a 1 year high of $99.13. The company's 50-day moving average is $76.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.21, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.11.

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, equities analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 9.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Bread Financial's payout ratio is currently 7.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BFH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Bread Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $84.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of America set a $92.00 target price on Bread Financial and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Bread Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 141.2% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 562 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 127.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.