Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Director Roger Ballou Sells 9,687 Shares

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Director Roger Ballou sold 9,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total transaction of $874,929.84. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,079 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,735.28. This trade represents a 24.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Bread Financial Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:BFH traded up $1.87 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $88.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,295,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 826,393. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $76.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.18. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.04 and a 52 week high of $99.13. The company has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $1.18. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $992.05 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 18.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 9.79 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.53%.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 141.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 127.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 8,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 840 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.