Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 208,036 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,199,787 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 208,036 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 13.02% of Bath & Body Works worth $1,093,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BBWI. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 52,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after acquiring an additional 12,964 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,129,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,704,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,088,000 after purchasing an additional 195,813 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 45,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 377,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,065,000 after purchasing an additional 84,873 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

NYSE BBWI opened at $30.93 on Friday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $26.21 and a one year high of $52.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89.

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

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Five equities research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.