Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stock Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,029,894 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 299,439 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $150,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,273,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,120,000 after acquiring an additional 30,962 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,076,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,557,000 after acquiring an additional 16,143 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,555,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,776,000 after acquiring an additional 65,223 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,159,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,257 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John J. Fawcett acquired 698 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $86.43 per share, for a total transaction of $60,328.14. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $950,730. This trade represents a 6.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total value of $1,336,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 582,241 shares in the company, valued at $51,877,673.10. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH opened at $96.61 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $85.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.70. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.63 and a 12-month high of $99.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 7.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $1.18. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.79% and a net margin of 11.90%.The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $992.05 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.59 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Bread Financial from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Bread Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.58.

Bread Financial Company Profile

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.