Norges Bank Takes $23.74 Million Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 388,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,740,000. Norges Bank owned 0.78% of Bread Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $357,109,000 after acquiring an additional 36,057 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 41,012 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,382,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,393,000 after purchasing an additional 88,081 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Bread Financial by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,155,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,012,000 after purchasing an additional 13,459 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Bread Financial by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 474,660 shares of the company's stock worth $28,983,000 after buying an additional 146,244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BFH shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Compass Point increased their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $57.08.

Bread Financial Price Performance

NYSE:BFH traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.04. 1,394,692 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 870,684. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.10 and a 52 week high of $66.71. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $52.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.80. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.58.

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

Bread Financial announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial's payout ratio is 15.14%.

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.