Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,848,495 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 36,057 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.76% of Bread Financial worth $357,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 39,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,393,000 after purchasing an additional 16,081 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $611,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,382,135 shares of the company's stock worth $84,393,000 after acquiring an additional 88,081 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 96.8% during the fourth 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. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $284,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on BFH. Compass Point increased their price target on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Bread Financial from an "overweight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.08.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BFH traded down $1.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $42.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,873,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 857,419. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.57 and a 200-day moving average of $55.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.66, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.10 and a fifty-two week high of $66.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Bread Financial's payout ratio is 15.14%.

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

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.