Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $35.53, but opened at $33.58. Bread Financial shares last traded at $35.05, with a volume of 203,833 shares traded.

The company reported $2.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.92 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $991.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $998.96 million. Bread Financial had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 13.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.08 EPS.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Bread Financial from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI cut Bread Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Bread Financial from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Bread Financial from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Four investment 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, Bread Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.64.

Insider Transactions at Bread Financial

In other news, major shareholder Turtle Creek Asset Management sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.67, for a total transaction of $1,605,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 293,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,454,591.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 1,280.6% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Bread Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Bread Financial by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in Bread Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $116,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bread Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $145,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Stock Up 0.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.52 and a 200 day moving average of $33.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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.