Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $92.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $98.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, January 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.09.

Bread Financial Stock Up 0.8%

BFH stock opened at $75.62 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.98. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.98, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.26. Bread Financial has a 12-month low of $38.21 and a 12-month high of $82.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $1.67. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 11.02%.The firm had revenue of $975.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $1,620,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Bread Financial by 748.3% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $967,000 after acquiring an additional 15,302 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 11.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 363,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,269,000 after acquiring an additional 37,466 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 44.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 943,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,628,000 after purchasing an additional 290,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,569,000. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

About Bread Financial

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.