Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) was upgraded by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Finviz reports. The brokerage currently has a $76.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $35.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 25.23% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on BFH. Barclays reduced their price target on Bread Financial from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.14.

Bread Financial Stock Performance

Bread Financial stock opened at $60.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Bread Financial has a 12-month low of $28.00 and a 12-month high of $66.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.57.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $983.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $981.26 million. Bread Financial had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 13.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Bread Financial will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John J. Fawcett purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $51.02 per share, with a total value of $51,020.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $330,252.46. This trade represents a 18.27 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bread Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 30.0% in the second quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 1,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 70.3% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 164.0% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

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.