AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 682,163 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 169.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,085,667 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 682,163 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.50% of Bath & Body Works worth $42,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $109,797,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $73,572,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 79.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,882,047 shares of the company's stock worth $150,507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715,096 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company's stock worth $200,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anomaly Capital Management LP lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 4,860,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,456,000 after buying an additional 1,346,752 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 3.6 %

BBWI stock traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $31.58. The stock had a trading volume of 842,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,781,154. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.69, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $52.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.97 and a 200 day moving average of $33.77.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BBWI. 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 research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler upgraded Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.88.

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.