Royce & Associates LP Sells 14,772 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Royce & Associates LP lessened its stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 27.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 39,945 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,772 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $2,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 241.1% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 537,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,711,000 after purchasing an additional 380,039 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Bread Financial by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,889,000 after purchasing an additional 376,920 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Bread Financial by 44.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 943,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,628,000 after purchasing an additional 290,803 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bread Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $16,599,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,720,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,281,000 after buying an additional 248,401 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bread Financial Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE BFH opened at $75.22 on Friday. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.21 and a 52 week high of $82.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $73.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.80.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $975.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.49%.

Bread Financial announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BFH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Bread Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.09.

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.