State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Decreases Stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury decreased its position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 37.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,910 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,256 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in Bread Financial were worth $727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,848,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $357,109,000 after buying an additional 36,057 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Bread Financial by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,382,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,393,000 after buying an additional 88,081 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,207,404 shares of the company's stock worth $73,724,000 after buying an additional 286,720 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Bread Financial by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 474,660 shares of the company's stock worth $28,983,000 after acquiring an additional 146,244 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $23,740,000. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bread Financial Trading Up 3.4 %

NYSE BFH traded up $1.63 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $50.28. 94,016 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 877,788. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.33. The business's 50 day moving average is $48.02 and its 200-day moving average is $55.55. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.21 and a 12-month high of $66.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $970.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $956.17 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 12.41%. Bread Financial's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.73 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

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 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Bread Financial's payout ratio is currently 14.92%.

Bread Financial announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $36.00 price objective on Bread Financial and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Bread Financial Company 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.