Empowered Funds LLC Sells 13,199 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 205,085 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,199 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $12,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,121,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,353,000 after purchasing an additional 260,283 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 880,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,910,000 after acquiring an additional 243,419 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,001,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,276,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,550,000. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH stock opened at $61.93 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.93. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.10 and a 12 month high of $66.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 12.41%. Equities research analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on BFH. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.69.

About Bread Financial

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.