Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after BTIG Research raised their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $132.00. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. Bread Financial traded as high as $109.12 and last traded at $108.9990, with a volume of 877879 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $106.27.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Bread Financial from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Barclays increased their target price on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated a “positive” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bread Financial

In other news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 698 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $86.43 per share, for a total transaction of $60,328.14. Following the acquisition, the director owned 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $950,730. The trade was a 6.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total transaction of $1,336,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 582,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,877,673.10. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $14,090,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 38,301.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 215,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,977,000 after acquiring an additional 215,253 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 100.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 716,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,059,000 after acquiring an additional 359,088 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $2,824,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Bread Financial by 101.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,593,000 after purchasing an additional 17,680 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $1.18. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is presently 7.53%.

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.