Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) Short Interest Up 77.3% in February

by · The Markets Daily

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH – Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,740,000 shares, a growth of 77.3% from the February 13th total of 2,110,000 shares. Currently, 7.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 746,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BFH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.69.

View Our Latest Stock Report on BFH

Bread Financial Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of Bread Financial stock traded up $1.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $49.40. The company had a trading volume of 915,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 795,231. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. Bread Financial has a fifty-two week low of $32.10 and a fifty-two week high of $66.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $58.33 and its 200-day moving average is $56.56. The company has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Bread Financial had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 12.41%. On average, analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in Bread Financial by 2,083.3% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Bread Financial by 207.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bread Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $104,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its position in Bread Financial by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

About Bread Financial

(Get Free Report)

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.

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