Short Interest in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Declines By 17.2%

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,301,514 shares, a decline of 17.2% from the December 15th total of 5,195,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 668,189 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days. Approximately 9.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 9.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 668,189 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BFH. Curat Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 81,068.5% during the second quarter. Curat Global LLC now owns 450,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,732,000 after buying an additional 449,930 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Bread Financial by 241.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 537,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,711,000 after purchasing an additional 380,039 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 736,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,889,000 after purchasing an additional 376,920 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 44.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 943,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,628,000 after purchasing an additional 290,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the second quarter worth $16,599,000. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bread Financial Trading Up 4.4%

Shares of BFH opened at $73.78 on Monday. Bread Financial has a 1-year low of $38.21 and a 1-year high of $82.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.51, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $1.91. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.30 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 10.08%.The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from Bread Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is currently 9.37%.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BFH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Bread Financial from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. UBS Group started coverage on Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $92.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bread Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.08.

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.