Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 65,288 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,546 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $3,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 207.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bread Financial Stock Up 3.9 %

BFH stock opened at $49.40 on Friday. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $32.10 and a one year high of $66.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $58.33 and a 200-day moving average of $56.56.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 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 expect that Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on BFH shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Compass Point increased their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.69.

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.