Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $35.53, but opened at $33.58. Bread Financial shares last traded at $35.05, with a volume of 203,833 shares changing hands.

The company reported $2.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.92 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $991.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $998.96 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 13.87% and a return on equity of 26.24%. The firm’s revenue was down 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.08 EPS.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is 5.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFH has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Bread Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $33.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Friday, January 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Turtle Creek Asset Management sold 45,000 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.67, for a total value of $1,605,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 293,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,454,591.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BFH. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 153,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,053,000 after purchasing an additional 48,900 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 477.6% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,355,000 after purchasing an additional 32,756 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $913,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 16.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 610,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,892,000 after acquiring an additional 86,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 8,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bread Financial Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.58, a PEG ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.06.

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.