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

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $60.44 and last traded at $60.17, with a volume of 18891 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $52.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on BFH shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Bread Financial from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America cut their price target on Bread Financial from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Bread Financial from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.64.

Bread Financial Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by ($0.03). Bread Financial had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 6.37%. The business had revenue of $983.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $981.26 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $51.02 per share, for a total transaction of $51,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $330,252.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 81.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,464,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,245,000 after purchasing an additional 657,968 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Bread Financial by 152.9% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 645,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,772,000 after buying an additional 390,413 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Bread Financial by 86.2% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 485,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,066,000 after buying an additional 224,545 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Bread Financial by 3.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,847,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,766,000 after buying an additional 216,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Bread Financial by 22.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,161,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,754,000 after buying an additional 212,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

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.