Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd decreased its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 31.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 222,600 shares of the company's stock after selling 100,300 shares during the period. Bread Financial comprises about 5.0% of Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd owned 0.45% of Bread Financial worth $13,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BFH. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Bread Financial by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,087 shares of the company's stock worth $921,000 after buying an additional 1,977 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Bread Financial by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 241,087 shares of the company's stock worth $14,721,000 after buying an additional 6,888 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 68.5% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 36,419 shares of the company's stock worth $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 14,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Bread Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bread Financial Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE:BFH opened at $55.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.66. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.21 and a 12-month high of $66.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

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

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Bread Financial's payout ratio is currently 14.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BFH shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Bread Financial from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their target price on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Compass Point increased their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.27.

Bread Financial Profile

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.

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