Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $60.69, but opened at $63.42. Bread Financial shares last traded at $63.09, with a volume of 58,890 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BFH. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Bread Financial from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.14.

Bread Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $983.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $981.26 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 13.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is currently 13.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bread Financial

In other news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $51.02 per share, for a total transaction of $51,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $330,252.46. The trade was a 18.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 81.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,464,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,245,000 after buying an additional 657,968 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Bread Financial by 152.9% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 645,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,772,000 after purchasing an additional 390,413 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,121,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,353,000 after purchasing an additional 260,283 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 880,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,910,000 after purchasing an additional 243,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,161,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,754,000 after purchasing an additional 212,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

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.