Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,610,000 shares, an increase of 7.4% from the August 31st total of 3,360,000 shares. Approximately 7.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Bread Financial stock opened at $46.42 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.57. Bread Financial has a 52 week low of $26.08 and a 52 week high of $59.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 5.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 1.95.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $1.06. The business had revenue of $939.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $922.01 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 9.77% and a return on equity of 16.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bread Financial will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 81.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,464,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,245,000 after buying an additional 657,968 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 4th quarter worth $14,365,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 152.9% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 645,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,772,000 after purchasing an additional 390,413 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Bread Financial by 86.2% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 485,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,066,000 after buying an additional 224,545 shares during the period. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $7,263,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BFH. TD Cowen upped their price target on Bread Financial from $44.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America cut their price target on Bread Financial from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.71.

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.