Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.33.

BBWI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays downgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $30.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st.

Insider Activity at Bath & Body Works

In related news, insider Thomas E. Mazurek sold 4,285 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total transaction of $209,493.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,248,548.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Shell Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 180.0% in the 3rd quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 56,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,904,000 after buying an additional 36,222 shares during the period. Pearl River Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 145.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 31,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after buying an additional 18,596 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 305.6% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 356,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,404,000 after buying an additional 268,913 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,697,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,689,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $868,307,000 after buying an additional 67,920 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

NYSE BBWI opened at $43.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.15 and a 200 day moving average of $40.08. Bath & Body Works has a 1 year low of $27.30 and a 1 year high of $50.34.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 11.82% and a negative return on equity of 37.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.86 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.78%.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

Bath & Body Works, Inc operates a specialty retailer of home fragrance, body care, and soaps and sanitizer products. It sells its products under the Bath & Body Works, White Barn, and other brand names through retail stores and e-commerce sites located in the United States and Canada, as well as through international stores operated by partners under franchise, license, and wholesale arrangements.