Analysts Set Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Price Target at $80.09

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.0909.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore raised Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $92.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bread Financial from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th.

Bread Financial Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE BFH opened at $74.41 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.17. Bread Financial has a twelve month low of $38.21 and a twelve month high of $82.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.86, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.26.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $1.67. The business had revenue of $975.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $954.74 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 11.02%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.49%.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 23rd that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 141.2% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Bread Financial by 127.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Bread Financial during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Bread Financial

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.