Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 331.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,144,608 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 879,387 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $44,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 99.7% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 81.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Trading Down 2.6 %

Bath & Body Works stock opened at $27.11 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.10. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $52.99. The stock has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. On average, equities analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.