Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 21,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Bread Financial by 81.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,464,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,245,000 after purchasing an additional 657,968 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 152.9% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 645,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,772,000 after buying an additional 390,413 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 30.2% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,121,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,353,000 after buying an additional 260,283 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Bread Financial by 38.2% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 880,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,910,000 after buying an additional 243,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Bread Financial by 22.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,161,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,754,000 after buying an additional 212,276 shares in the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $51.02 per share, with a total value of $51,020.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $330,252.46. The trade was a 18.27 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Bread Financial stock opened at $65.27 on Friday. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.00 and a 12-month high of $66.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $983.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $981.26 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 6.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is 13.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on BFH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Bread Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.54.

Bread Financial 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.