Legato Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 7,672 Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BFH. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 241.1% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 537,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,711,000 after purchasing an additional 380,039 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 104.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,889,000 after acquiring an additional 376,920 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 100.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 716,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,059,000 after acquiring an additional 359,088 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 44.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 943,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,628,000 after acquiring an additional 290,803 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the third quarter valued at about $14,090,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bread Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Friday, April 24th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.25.

Bread Financial Trading Up 2.5%

BFH opened at $88.73 on Wednesday. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.17 and a twelve month high of $99.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.12.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $1.18. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 18.79%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $992.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.86 earnings per share. Bread Financial’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.53%.

Bread Financial declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Roger H. Ballou sold 9,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total value of $874,929.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 30,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,735.28. This represents a 24.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John J. Fawcett bought 698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $86.43 per share, with a total value of $60,328.14. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $950,730. The trade was a 6.78% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Profile

Bread Financial, formerly known as Alliance Data Systems, is a Columbus, Ohio–based financial services company that specializes in providing private label credit programs, co-brand credit cards and digital payment solutions for retail partners. The company designs, issues and services proprietary credit products, enabling merchants to offer branded financing options that drive customer loyalty and increase basket sizes at the point of sale. Through its Bread technology platform, Bread Financial delivers installment-based payment options that integrate directly into e-commerce and in-store checkout experiences.

In addition to its core credit offerings, Bread Financial provides analytics, marketing and loyalty services to help merchants better understand consumer behavior and optimize promotional strategies.