Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Has $20.27 Million Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 11.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 363,445 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,466 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $20,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,720,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,281,000 after purchasing an additional 248,401 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 2.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,490,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,151,000 after acquiring an additional 28,901 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Bread Financial by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,233,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,436,000 after acquiring an additional 247,437 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Bread Financial by 9.9% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 800,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,704,000 after purchasing an additional 71,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,889,000 after purchasing an additional 376,920 shares during the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bread Financial Trading Up 4.4%

Bread Financial stock opened at $73.78 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.87. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.21 and a 52-week high of $82.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.27.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $1.91. Bread Financial had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 15.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, October 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Bread Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 9.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on BFH shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $81.00 price target on Bread Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.08.

Bread Financial Company Profile

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.