Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Price Target Cut to $58.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) had its price objective lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sell rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Compass Point increased their target price on Bread Financial from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bread Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Bread Financial from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.69.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Shares of BFH stock opened at $47.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.40. Bread Financial has a 12-month low of $32.10 and a 12-month high of $66.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts forecast that Bread Financial will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.14%.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $104,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Bread Financial by 550.8% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 462,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,228,000 after purchasing an additional 391,272 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Bread Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $23,740,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Bread Financial by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,207,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,724,000 after purchasing an additional 286,720 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Bread Financial by 30.2% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,121,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,353,000 after purchasing an additional 260,283 shares during the period. 99.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.