Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

08 Jul 2026, 11:36 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH – Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

BFH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Bread Financial in a report on Monday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Bread Financial from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Bread Financial from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on Bread Financial in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.92.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on BFH

Bread Financial Stock Down 0.9%

BFH stock opened at $102.57 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 8.40, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.09. Bread Financial has a 1 year low of $53.83 and a 1 year high of $109.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $1.18. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 18.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bread Financial will post 10.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bread Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Bread Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bread Financial news, Director John J. Fawcett acquired 698 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $86.43 per share, with a total value of $60,328.14. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $950,730. This trade represents a 6.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ralph J. Andretta sold 15,000 shares of Bread Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.10, for a total value of $1,336,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 582,241 shares in the company, valued at $51,877,673.10. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bread Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFH. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Bread Financial by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bread Financial by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 58.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 614 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Vista Investment Management raised its stake in Bread Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vista Investment Management now owns 22,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,692,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Bread Financial by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. 99.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Bread Financial News

Here are the key news stories impacting Bread Financial this week:

Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $120 and kept a buy rating, signaling meaningful upside potential for Bread Financial.
Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs increased its target to $108, reflecting improved expectations for BFH’s valuation.
Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Bread Financial to equal weight from underweight and lifted its target to $104, a sign of improved sentiment.
Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its target to $103, indicating the stock is now viewed as roughly fairly valued with slight upside.
Neutral Sentiment: Bread Financial scheduled its second-quarter 2026 earnings conference call for July 23, which may become the next major catalyst for the shares. Bread Financial Schedules Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call for Jul. 23
Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research cut Bread Financial from strong-buy to hold, which slightly weakens the bullish analyst backdrop.

Bread Financial Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Bread Financial, formerly known as Alliance Data Systems, is a Columbus, Ohio–based financial services company that specializes in providing private label credit programs, co-brand credit cards and digital payment solutions for retail partners. The company designs, issues and services proprietary credit products, enabling merchants to offer branded financing options that drive customer loyalty and increase basket sizes at the point of sale. Through its Bread technology platform, Bread Financial delivers installment-based payment options that integrate directly into e-commerce and in-store checkout experiences.

In addition to its core credit offerings, Bread Financial provides analytics, marketing and loyalty services to help merchants better understand consumer behavior and optimize promotional strategies.