Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $76.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $35.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 21.10% from the company’s current price.

BFH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays cut their target price on Bread Financial from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI increased 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.14.

Bread Financial Price Performance

NYSE:BFH opened at $62.76 on Thursday. Bread Financial has a 52 week low of $28.00 and a 52 week high of $66.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.79. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 1.96.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $983.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $981.26 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 6.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bread Financial will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Bread Financial

In related news, Director John J. Fawcett acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $51.02 per share, for a total transaction of $51,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $330,252.46. This trade represents a 18.27 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $810,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake 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. grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 22.4% during 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 last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased 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 worth $28,772,000 after acquiring an additional 390,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $576,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

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.