Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $2.33 Million in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 41,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,334,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in Bread Financial by 1.7% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 11,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in Bread Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 25,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 31,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,736,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America set a $92.00 price objective on Bread Financial and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Bread Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.08.

Bread Financial Price Performance

BFH stock opened at $71.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 6.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.20. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.21 and a 12 month high of $82.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $73.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $1.67. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The business had revenue of $975.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is presently 8.49%.

Bread Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Bread Financial

Bread Financial, formerly known as Alliance Data Systems, is a Columbus, Ohio–based financial services company that specializes in providing private label credit programs, co-brand credit cards and digital payment solutions for retail partners. The company designs, issues and services proprietary credit products, enabling merchants to offer branded financing options that drive customer loyalty and increase basket sizes at the point of sale. Through its Bread technology platform, Bread Financial delivers installment-based payment options that integrate directly into e-commerce and in-store checkout experiences.

In addition to its core credit offerings, Bread Financial provides analytics, marketing and loyalty services to help merchants better understand consumer behavior and optimize promotional strategies.