Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BFH. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, September 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $107.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $105.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $120.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.29.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:BFH opened at $101.37 on Friday. Bread Financial has a 52 week low of $54.89 and a 52 week high of $114.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.15.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $3.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $993.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $959.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.15 EPS. Bread Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 12.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is currently 7.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Praniti Lakhwara sold 2,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.12, for a total value of $297,348.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $473,082.96. This represents a 38.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Bread Financial by 5,814.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 17,269 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,903,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $421,314,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 18.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 630,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,198,000 after purchasing an additional 96,771 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 66.9% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 28,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 11,292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

About Bread Financial

Bread Financial Corporation (NYSE: BFH) is a financial services company that provides payment, lending and savings solutions to consumers and businesses. The company works with merchants and brands to offer private-label and co-branded credit cards, installment loans, buy now, pay later services and other financing options at the point of sale.

Its consumer products and services include Bread Pay payment solutions, credit card programs issued through its banking subsidiaries, and Bread Savings deposit products.