Ritholtz Wealth Management Acquires Shares of 15,508 Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 15,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,148,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BFH. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 46.5% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 345,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,323,000 after acquiring an additional 109,864 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 104.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,889,000 after acquiring an additional 376,920 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 3.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 157,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,904,000 after acquiring an additional 4,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BFH opened at $82.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.07. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.57 and a 1-year high of $83.30. The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 7.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.49%.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFH has been the topic of a number of research reports. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $92.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.92.

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.