Xponance Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

Xponance Inc. decreased its position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,273 shares of the company’s stock after selling 235 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Bread Financial were worth $505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bread Financial by 96.8% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 146,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,964,000 after buying an additional 72,204 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $284,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $237,000. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 154,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,406,000 after purchasing an additional 34,365 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 14,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $893,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of BFH opened at $51.54 on Wednesday. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $32.10 and a one year high of $66.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.18. 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 market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96.

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

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

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is 15.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BFH. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Compass Point increased their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.