Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)’s share price 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 changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BFH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Bread Financial from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bread Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.14.

Bread Financial Trading Up 2.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.79. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 1.96.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $983.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $981.26 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 6.37%. Bread Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is 13.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John J. Fawcett acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $51.02 per share, for a total transaction of $51,020.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,473 shares in the company, valued at $330,252.46. The trade was a 18.27 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 2.0% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 24,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,110,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Bread Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $245,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Bread Financial by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,386 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Bread Financial during the second quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the second quarter worth about $1,049,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.