Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Down 6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) fell 6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $31.71 and last traded at $32.16. 2,141,152 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 3,824,888 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBWI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Stock Down 4.5 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter worth $8,129,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,851,000 after acquiring an additional 235,173 shares during the period. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter worth $2,921,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 328.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,069,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,153,000 after acquiring an additional 820,379 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 1,078.2% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 45,144 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a specialty retailers and home to America’s Favorite Fragrances, offering a breadth of exclusive fragrances for the body and home, including the selling collections for fine fragrance mist, body lotion and body cream, 3-wick candles, home fragrance diffusers and liquid hand soap.