Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on BFH. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Bread Financial from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $57.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $88.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.18.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Bread Financial stock opened at $76.70 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 7.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.23. Bread Financial has a 12-month low of $38.21 and a 12-month high of $78.98.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.30 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 15.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 27th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 606,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,376,000 after acquiring an additional 5,291 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,854,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $92,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Bread Financial by 22.0% during the first quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 212,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,659,000 after purchasing an additional 38,430 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in Bread Financial by 947.5% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Company 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.