Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 286,720 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 31.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,207,404 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 286,720 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 2.43% of Bread Financial worth $73,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 2,083.3% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 524 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Bread Financial by 207.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its position in Bread Financial by 64.6% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,631 shares of the company's stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,103 shares of the company's stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Bread Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Bread Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.08.

Bread Financial Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE BFH traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $44.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 358,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 874,342. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.10 and a twelve month high of $66.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.58. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $54.40 and a 200 day moving average of $56.07.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Bread Financial's payout ratio is currently 15.14%.

Bread Financial 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.