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

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

Bread Financial Trading Up 3.9 %

NYSE:BFH traded up $1.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.40. 915,919 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 793,655. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Bread Financial has a 52 week low of $32.10 and a 52 week high of $66.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $58.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.56.

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

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bread Financial during the 4th quarter worth $104,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 550.8% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 462,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,228,000 after buying an additional 391,272 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $23,740,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Bread Financial by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,207,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,724,000 after acquiring an additional 286,720 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bread Financial by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,121,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,353,000 after acquiring an additional 260,283 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BFH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Compass Point increased their price target on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.