Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $60.69, but opened at $63.42. Bread Financial shares last traded at $63.09, with a volume of 58,890 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BFH. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday. Barclays dropped 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on Bread Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.14.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 1.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.57.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $983.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $981.26 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 6.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.38%.

Insider Activity at Bread Financial

In related news, Director John J. Fawcett acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $51.02 per share, for a total transaction of $51,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,473 shares in the company, valued at $330,252.46. The trade was a 18.27 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the third quarter worth about $810,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Bread Financial by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,173,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,386,000 after buying an additional 70,092 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,161,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,754,000 after acquiring an additional 212,276 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 152.9% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 645,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,772,000 after acquiring an additional 390,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $576,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Company 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.