Tweedy Browne Co LLC Boosts Stock Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. $BFH

Tweedy Browne Co LLC lifted its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 104.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,851 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,606 shares during the quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bread Financial by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,273,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,120,000 after buying an additional 30,962 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,076,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,557,000 after acquiring an additional 16,143 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,720,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,281,000 after acquiring an additional 248,401 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,555,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,776,000 after acquiring an additional 65,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,233,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,436,000 after acquiring an additional 247,437 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of BFH opened at $71.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 6.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.20. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.21 and a 1-year high of $82.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $1.67. The firm had revenue of $975.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.74 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 17.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 8.49%.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 19% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BFH. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $92.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Bread Financial from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.08.

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.