Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH Stock: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Trims Position

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,046 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Bread Financial worth $5,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BFH. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 5,814.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 17,269 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $9,903,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $421,314,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 630,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,198,000 after acquiring an additional 96,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 23.6% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,057,000 after purchasing an additional 10,347 shares during the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BFH shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on Bread Financial from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Bread Financial from $127.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $107.00 price objective on Bread Financial in a report on Friday, July 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bread Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Fawcett bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.60 per share, with a total value of $226,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000. The trade was a 200.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 15,016 shares of company stock valued at $351,230. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Bread Financial Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Bread Financial stock opened at $97.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.01. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.16, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.26. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.26 and a 12-month high of $114.53.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.19% and a return on equity of 17.24%. Bread Financial’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.02 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Bread Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.26%.

About Bread Financial

Bread Financial is a consumer financial services company that works with retailers and other businesses to offer payment and lending products. Its services include private-label and co-branded credit cards, installment payment options and other financing solutions designed for purchases with participating merchants. The company also offers deposit products through Bread Savings, including online savings accounts and certificates of deposit. Its products serve consumers primarily in the United States.