Empowered Funds LLC Purchases New Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 461,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 1.20% of Bread Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BFH. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the second quarter worth about $421,314,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $98,764,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Bread Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $65,806,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 223.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 665,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,290,000 after purchasing an additional 459,916 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 104.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,889,000 after buying an additional 376,920 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bread Financial Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:BFH opened at $108.14 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $105.24 and a 200 day moving average of $90.17. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.83 and a 52 week high of $114.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $3.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $993.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $959.32 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.42% and a net margin of 11.95%.The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Bread Financial from $94.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research cut Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Bread Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on Bread Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Praniti Lakhwara sold 2,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.12, for a total value of $297,348.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,458 shares in the company, valued at $473,082.96. This trade represents a 38.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial 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.