Pzena Investment Management LLC Has $44.09 Million Stock Holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Pzena Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 722,139 shares of the company’s stock after selling 158,688 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned about 1.45% of Bread Financial worth $44,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Bread Financial by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in Bread Financial by 88.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 33,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,005,000 after buying an additional 15,883 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in Bread Financial by 327.9% during the 4th quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 57,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,497,000 after buying an additional 43,887 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in Bread Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $308,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Bread Financial by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 103,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,314,000 after buying an additional 5,320 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BFH. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Compass Point increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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 increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.69.

Bread Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BFH opened at $46.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.79. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.10 and a 1-year high of $66.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 5.75%. Analysts anticipate that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.14%.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.