Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $99.69 and last traded at $100.7370, with a volume of 408647 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BFH shares. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Bread Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised Bread Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 price objective on Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.42.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.12.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $1.18. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.79% and a net margin of 11.90%.The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is 7.53%.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 582,241 shares in the company, valued at $51,877,673.10. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Roger H. Ballou sold 9,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total value of $874,929.84. Following the sale, the director owned 30,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,735.28. This represents a 24.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 18.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 630,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,198,000 after acquiring an additional 96,771 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 15.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 14,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 1,894 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 23.6% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,057,000 after acquiring an additional 10,347 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 3.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 193,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,463,000 after acquiring an additional 6,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 66.9% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 28,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 11,292 shares in the last quarter. 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.