Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Given New $31.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on BFH. TD Cowen began coverage on Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. They issued a market perform rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Bread Financial from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and cut their target price for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Bread Financial from a neutral rating to a sell rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Barclays initiated coverage on Bread Financial in a research report on Wednesday. They set an underweight rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Bread Financial from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $39.11.

Bread Financial Price Performance

NYSE BFH opened at $26.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.44, a PEG ratio of 0.07 and a beta of 2.00. Bread Financial has a 12 month low of $23.19 and a 12 month high of $44.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $1.22. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 21.09% and a net margin of 10.50%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. Bread Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 12.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 10th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bread Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in Bread Financial by 71.4% during the 1st quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 19,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in Bread Financial by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 47,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after buying an additional 13,745 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Bread Financial by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 26,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Bread Financial by 56.5% in the 1st quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd bought a new position in Bread Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.