4,653 Shares in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Purchased by Cibc World Markets Corp

Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,034,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,804,000 after acquiring an additional 41,012 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,155,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,012,000 after purchasing an additional 13,459 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,121,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,353,000 after purchasing an additional 260,283 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 730,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,759,000 after purchasing an additional 13,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 474,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,983,000 after buying an additional 146,244 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BFH opened at $51.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.10 and a twelve month high of $66.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $57.04 and a 200 day moving average of $56.18.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. As a group, research analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BFH. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.69.

About Bread Financial

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc provides tech-forward payment and lending solutions to customers and consumer-based industries in North America. It offers credit card and other loans financing services, including risk management solutions, account origination, and funding services for private label and co-brand credit card programs, as well as through Bread partnerships; and Comenity-branded general purpose cash-back credit.