US Bancorp DE Increases Stock Position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,087 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,977 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $201,000. Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 416.9% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 70,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,276,000 after buying an additional 56,483 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 379.9% during the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 17,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after buying an additional 13,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Bread Financial by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 474,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,983,000 after buying an additional 146,244 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH stock opened at $48.73 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.85. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.10 and a 12 month high of $66.71.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. On average, equities analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BFH shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Compass Point increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.69.

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.