American Century Companies Inc. Has $84.39 Million Stake in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,382,135 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 88,081 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.78% of Bread Financial worth $84,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Bread Financial by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 5,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Bread Financial by 2,083.3% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of BFH stock opened at $52.42 on Tuesday. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.10 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.19 and a 200-day moving average of $56.21.

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

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Bread Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Bread Financial from $67.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. 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 research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.69.

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.