Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Upgraded to “Buy” at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $54.00 price target on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Argus cut Bread Financial from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Compass Point raised their price target on Bread Financial from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued a neutral rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $48.13.

Bread Financial Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE BFH opened at $49.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 6.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.50. Bread Financial has a fifty-two week low of $26.08 and a fifty-two week high of $55.68.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $1.06. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 9.77%. The firm had revenue of $939.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $922.01 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bread Financial will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 10.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Bread Financial by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 24,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Bread Financial by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 25,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.