Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys 251,700 Shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 5,654.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 256,151 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 251,700 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $15,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BFH. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $890,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 98,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,667,000 after acquiring an additional 5,752 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,676,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $695,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 11,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of BFH stock opened at $48.24 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69, 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 12.41%. As a group, analysts predict that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is 15.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BFH. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Compass Point raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.69.

Bread Financial Company Profile

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.