Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Shares Acquired by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP increased its position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,040 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,365 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.31% of Bread Financial worth $9,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 41,012 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 13,459 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 880,827 shares of the company's stock worth $41,910,000 after purchasing an additional 243,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 730,531 shares of the company's stock worth $34,759,000 after purchasing an additional 13,484 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Compass Point raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Bread Financial from $68.00 to $58.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bread Financial from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upped their target price on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.69.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of BFH traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.04. 1,317,763 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 797,472. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.10 and a 1-year high of $66.71. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $57.29 and a 200-day moving average of $56.25.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last released 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%. Analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Bread Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.14%.

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.