Ritholtz Wealth Management Purchases 19,196 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 123.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,704 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,196 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management owned 0.08% of Bread Financial worth $2,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Bread Financial in the third quarter worth $14,090,000. UBS Group AG increased its position in Bread Financial by 100.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 716,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,059,000 after purchasing an additional 359,088 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bread Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $2,824,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Bread Financial by 101.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,593,000 after purchasing an additional 17,680 shares during the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BFH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Bread Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.42.

Bread Financial Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:BFH opened at $105.90 on Friday. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.83 and a 1-year high of $107.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $91.85 and a 200 day moving average of $80.55.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Bread Financial

In other Bread Financial news, Director Roger H. Ballou sold 9,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total value of $874,929.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,735.28. This trade represents a 24.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John J. Fawcett purchased 698 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $86.43 per share, with a total value of $60,328.14. Following the acquisition, the director owned 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $950,730. This represents a 6.78% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 1.30% 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.