Bank of Montreal Can Cuts Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,547 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,293 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $14,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BFH. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,461,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,209,000 after acquiring an additional 79,709 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Bread Financial by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,320,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,127,000 after acquiring an additional 409,877 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Bread Financial by 9.9% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 800,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,704,000 after purchasing an additional 71,939 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 104.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,889,000 after purchasing an additional 376,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 33.7% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 652,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,291,000 after purchasing an additional 164,540 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bread Financial Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Bread Financial stock opened at $63.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.47, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.51. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.21 and a 12-month high of $68.01.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $1.91. Bread Financial had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 15.97%. The firm had revenue of $971.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. Bread Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Bread Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Bread Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is currently 9.37%.

Bread Financial declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 27th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BFH. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $55.00 price target on Bread Financial and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Bread Financial from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bread Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.00.

Bread Financial Profile

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.