American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 88,081 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,382,135 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 88,081 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 2.78% of Bread Financial worth $84,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 96.8% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 146,805 shares of the company's stock worth $8,964,000 after acquiring an additional 72,204 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Bread Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $284,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 154,040 shares of the company's stock worth $9,406,000 after buying an additional 34,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 14,620 shares of the company's stock worth $893,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company's stock.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.95. 727,827 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 830,867. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.10 and a 52 week 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $56.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.11.

Remove Ads

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 12.41%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bread Financial from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.69.

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.