Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Short Interest Up 31.0% in February

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,000,000 shares, a growth of 31.0% from the February 13th total of 4,580,000 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 99.7% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 14,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock traded up $0.41 on Monday, hitting $29.91. 1,430,828 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,068,111. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.00. Bath & Body Works has a 12-month low of $26.21 and a 12-month high of $52.99. The company has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 7.30, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 price objective on Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.06.

About Bath & Body Works

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.