Vestcor Inc Invests $234,000 in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 5,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BFH shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.69.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of BFH opened at $47.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.82 and a 200-day moving average of $56.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.10 and a 52 week high of $66.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. As a group, analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.14%.

Bread Financial 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.