Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $1.74 Million in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 28,408 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,735,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Bread Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BFH. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 2,083.3% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 524 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 207.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the company's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bread Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $104,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Bread Financial by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,103 shares of the company's stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BFH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.27.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

NYSE BFH traded down $0.10 on Tuesday, hitting $53.20. 41,091 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 871,734. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $48.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.80. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.33. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.21 and a fifty-two week high of $66.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.76. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. The company had revenue of $970.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $956.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.73 earnings per share. Bread Financial's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Bread Financial's payout ratio is currently 14.92%.

Bread Financial announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.