Subject: Re: BFH - why so unloved?
Here's an idea to mess with your head.

Still not cheap enough for ya at a forward P/E under 2?
Have a look at writing cash-backed puts.

e.g., you can get a premium of $4.30 for a June $27.50 put.
The stock is at $27 on the dot.


You have to put at risk $23.20 per share to the deal, your breakeven if assigned.

So, the two outcomes are:
(1) You get a cash income of $4.30 on $23.20 at risk = 18.5% return = 28.9%/year annualized rate (not compounded, just linear).
(2) You get the shares for $23.20 apiece. Earnings next year are estimated at $14, so you get a forward earnings yield of 60%.
Presumably that earnings figure could be off by a mile and the earnings yield would still look pretty good.

If one is happy with both those outcomes, the only remaining questions are tail risks (will the company go pop?) and whether this is the best allocation of funds you can spot today.

The problem here is that, given how cheap they are, there is a decent chance that the pessimism might end and the stock might really pop suddenly.
So you might have to close the position early and take most of the profit in a smaller period of time, then decide what the best position from there might be depending on the size of the pop.
The flip side is that you make an excellent rate of return so long as the pessimism lasts and the stock price stays in the dump.
I don't usually write puts just once...I pick a ticker and do it over and over for as long as I like the value proposition.

Jim