Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $105.51 and last traded at $105.4430, with a volume of 128249 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BFH shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.42.

Bread Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.91.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $992.05 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.53%.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 698 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $86.43 per share, for a total transaction of $60,328.14. Following the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total value of $1,336,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 582,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,877,673.10. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Bread Financial by 58.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Vista Investment Management increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vista Investment Management now owns 22,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 16,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

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.