70,179 Shares in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Purchased by Bayesian Capital Management LP

Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 70,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,721,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,741,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,526,000 after acquiring an additional 583,337 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,445,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,228,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter valued at $2,910,000. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.88.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 2.1 %

Bath & Body Works stock traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.51. 2,509,755 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,796,776. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $30.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.44, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $52.99.

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

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

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

Bath & Body Works 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.