Norges Bank Invests $16.60 Million in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 290,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,599,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.62% of Bread Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Curat Global LLC raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 81,068.5% in the 2nd quarter. Curat Global LLC now owns 450,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,732,000 after purchasing an additional 449,930 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 45.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,320,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,127,000 after buying an additional 409,877 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $36,889,000 after buying an additional 376,920 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 16.9% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,720,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,281,000 after acquiring an additional 248,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 33.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 652,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,291,000 after acquiring an additional 164,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BFH. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Bread Financial from $88.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Bread Financial from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Bread Financial Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:BFH opened at $72.47 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $62.41 and a 200-day moving average of $60.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 7.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.27. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.21 and a 52 week high of $72.74.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $161.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.30 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 10.08%.The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from Bread Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is currently 9.37%.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 27th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Company Profile

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc provides tech-forward payment and lending solutions to customers and consumer-based industries in North America. It offers credit card and other loans financing services, including risk management solutions, account origination, and funding services for private label and co-brand credit card programs, as well as through Bread partnerships; and Comenity-branded general purpose cash-back credit.