Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Receives $79.08 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $78.8182.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BFH. Barclays boosted their price target on Bread Financial from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore ISI set a $81.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, December 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,142,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Bread Financial by 25.1% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,233,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,436,000 after purchasing an additional 247,437 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $16,599,000. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 132.6% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 198,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,327,000 after buying an additional 113,053 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,713,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Stock Down 5.2%

NYSE:BFH opened at $69.93 on Friday. Bread Financial has a fifty-two week low of $38.21 and a fifty-two week high of $82.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.03.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $1.91. Bread Financial had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 15.97%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. Bread Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This is a boost from Bread Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.37%.

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

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.