Pzena Investment Management LLC Sells 14,726 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Pzena Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 785,417 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,726 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned 1.72% of Bread Financial worth $43,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BFH. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Bread Financial by 46.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 345,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,323,000 after acquiring an additional 109,864 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bread Financial by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,889,000 after acquiring an additional 376,920 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 3.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 157,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,904,000 after acquiring an additional 4,624 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the first quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Trading Up 1.7%

BFH opened at $74.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.21 and a 52 week high of $82.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.86, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.53 and a 200-day moving average of $66.75.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $1.67. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 11.02%.The business had revenue of $975.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Bread Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group started coverage on Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $92.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.09.

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.