Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Receives $59.69 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $59.69.

Several research firms recently weighed in on BFH. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Finally, 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 research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Bread Financial stock opened at $51.02 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 9.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.93. Bread Financial has a twelve month low of $32.10 and a twelve month high of $66.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bread Financial will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 15.14%.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,735,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 40,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after buying an additional 22,373 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,679,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Bread Financial during the fourth quarter worth $2,861,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 60,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,698,000 after acquiring an additional 24,711 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.