Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Short Interest Update

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,110,000 shares, a growth of 25.6% from the January 31st total of 1,680,000 shares. Currently, 4.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 660,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BFH traded down $1.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.82. The stock had a trading volume of 176,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 699,081. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. Bread Financial has a fifty-two week low of $32.10 and a fifty-two week high of $66.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.92 and a 200-day moving average of $56.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 12.41%. Equities research analysts predict that Bread Financial will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BFH. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bread Financial in the third quarter valued at about $810,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bread Financial by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,155,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,012,000 after purchasing an additional 13,459 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $3,550,000. Factorial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Factorial Partners LLC now owns 34,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BFH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Compass Point raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.