Empowered Funds LLC Grows Holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 193,123 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,574 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.48% of Bread Financial worth $14,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Bread Financial by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,086,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,111,000 after buying an additional 9,854 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,029,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,273,000 after acquiring an additional 299,439 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,159,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,257 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,147,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,940,000 after purchasing an additional 203,707 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Bread Financial by 14.7% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,009,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,667,000 after purchasing an additional 129,774 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BFH. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Bread Financial from $94.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bread Financial

In related news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $86.43 per share, for a total transaction of $60,328.14. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $950,730. This trade represents a 6.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total transaction of $1,336,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 582,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,877,673.10. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BFH opened at $107.16 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.58 and a 200 day moving average of $84.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.10. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.83 and a 52 week high of $110.14.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $3.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.81. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 18.42% and a net margin of 11.95%.The business had revenue of $992.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $959.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.18%.

Bread Financial Company Profile

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.