Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $99.69 and last traded at $100.7370, with a volume of 408647 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BFH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Wednesday. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.58.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $85.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.70. The company has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.12.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $1.18. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.05 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 18.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.53%.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total value of $1,336,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 582,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,877,673.10. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Roger H. Ballou sold 9,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total transaction of $874,929.84. Following the sale, the director owned 30,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,735.28. This represents a 24.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 209,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,658,000 after purchasing an additional 22,745 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Bread Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $14,090,000. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 100.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 716,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,059,000 after purchasing an additional 359,088 shares during the period. Brooktree Capital Management raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 5.1% in the third quarter. Brooktree Capital Management now owns 164,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,151,000 after purchasing an additional 8,002 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 38,301.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 215,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,977,000 after buying an additional 215,253 shares during the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.