Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Grows Stock Holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 36.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,437,418 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 380,942 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned 0.66% of Bath & Body Works worth $55,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBWI. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 50.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 265,221 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,230,000 after acquiring an additional 89,350 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 328.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,069,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,153,000 after buying an additional 820,379 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 161.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 78.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,434 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 1,953 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

NYSE BBWI traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $30.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,509,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,796,776. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $52.99. The company's 50-day moving average is $29.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 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 reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BBWI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler raised Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.88.

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.