Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Stock Position Decreased by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC lessened its stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 85.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,200 shares of the company's stock after selling 84,442 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Bread Financial were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BFH. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 2,083.3% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 524 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Bread Financial by 207.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,103 shares of the company's stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Compass Point increased their target price on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.00.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BFH traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,135,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,823. 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. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $48.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.65. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.58.

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

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

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.92%.

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.