Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $60.69, but opened at $63.42. Bread Financial shares last traded at $63.09, with a volume of 58,890 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price objective on Bread Financial from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bread Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.14.

Bread Financial Stock Up 2.2 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $983.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $981.26 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 6.37%. Bread Financial’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.38%.

Insider Transactions at Bread Financial

In other Bread Financial news, Director John J. Fawcett acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $51.02 per share, for a total transaction of $51,020.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $330,252.46. The trade was a 18.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 81.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,464,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,245,000 after purchasing an additional 657,968 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 152.9% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 645,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,772,000 after buying an additional 390,413 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 30.2% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,121,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,353,000 after buying an additional 260,283 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 38.2% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 880,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,910,000 after acquiring an additional 243,419 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,161,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,754,000 after acquiring an additional 212,276 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Bread Financial

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.