Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,360,000 shares, a decrease of 6.7% from the August 15th total of 3,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 950,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 6.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Bread Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $44.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $40.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.00.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH stock traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $52.20. The stock had a trading volume of 33,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 853,912. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.16 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Bread Financial has a 12 month low of $26.08 and a 12 month high of $59.66.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $1.06. The business had revenue of $939.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $922.01 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 9.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Bread Financial will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Bread Financial by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 807,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,601,000 after buying an additional 99,029 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Bread Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $631,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 528,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,392,000 after purchasing an additional 50,474 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $623,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 672,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,140,000 after purchasing an additional 37,005 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.