Stock Buyback Plan Authorized by Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH)

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Stock Up 8.6%

Shares of NYSE BFH traded up $6.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $79.46. 1,376,618 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 862,440. Bread Financial has a 12 month low of $38.21 and a 12 month high of $82.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 7.33, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.26.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $1.67. The company had revenue of $975.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.74 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 17.92%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bread Financial will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Bread Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.09.

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.