Baird Financial Group Inc. Makes New $1.38 Million Investment in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 35,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,381,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BBWI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,199,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,093,306,000 after purchasing an additional 208,036 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,235,086 shares of the company's stock worth $396,815,000 after buying an additional 422,973 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,494,089 shares of the company's stock worth $329,317,000 after buying an additional 445,887 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted 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 valued at $200,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,264 shares during the period. Finally, Anomaly Capital Management LP lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 4,860,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of BBWI stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.73. 5,679,860 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,832,322. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $29.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BBWI. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler raised Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $38.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.69.

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.