Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Upgraded by Morgan Stanley to Overweight Rating

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a $76.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $35.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 25.23% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on BFH. 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 research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bread Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.14.

Bread Financial Stock Down 6.8 %

NYSE BFH opened at $60.69 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.57. Bread Financial has a one year low of $28.00 and a one year high of $66.71. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.03). The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bread Financial will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bread Financial

In related news, Director John J. Fawcett bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $51.02 per share, for a total transaction of $51,020.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,473 shares in the company, valued at $330,252.46. This represents a 18.27 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $810,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 2.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,173,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,386,000 after buying an additional 70,092 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 22.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,161,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,754,000 after buying an additional 212,276 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Bread Financial by 152.9% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 645,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,772,000 after buying an additional 390,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $576,000. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.