Weiss Ratings Reiterates "Hold (C+)" Rating for Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "Hold (C+)" rating for Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH), suggesting a cautious stance on the stock amidst recent price target adjustments from various analysts.
• The stock's current trading price is approximately $55.00, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.20, reflecting varied analyst opinions.
• Bread Financial recently announced a share buyback program, signaling the board's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c+)" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report released on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

BFH has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $88.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research set a $105.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Bread Financial from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.20.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BFH traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $55.00. The stock had a trading volume of 319,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 793,536. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.31, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $61.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.74. Bread Financial has a 1-year low of $38.21 and a 1-year high of $68.01.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $3.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $1.29. The business had revenue of $929.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.69 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 6.05% and a return on equity of 13.10%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.66 earnings per share. Bread Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 1,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $61.79 per share, with a total value of $63,458.33. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,302 shares in the company, valued at $636,560.58. This represents a 11.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 35,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,008,000 after acquiring an additional 7,619 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 0.7% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 186,284 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the second quarter valued at about $184,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 373.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 5,171 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company's stock.

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.

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