Analysts Set Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) PT at $59.69

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.69.

BFH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH opened at $51.48 on Monday. Bread Financial has a 1 year low of $32.10 and a 1 year high of $66.71. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bread Financial will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

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

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Bread Financial by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,848,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,109,000 after purchasing an additional 36,057 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Bread Financial by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,034,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,804,000 after acquiring an additional 41,012 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,452,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,299,000 after acquiring an additional 13,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,382,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,393,000 after purchasing an additional 88,081 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Company Profile

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.