Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.69.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BBWI shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler upgraded Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $38.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their price target on Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Friday, January 10th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 99.7% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 81.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 135.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 5.5 %

Shares of BBWI stock traded up $1.63 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.21. 5,691,259 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,794,264. Bath & Body Works has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $52.99. The company's 50 day moving average is $31.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.86. The firm has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a PE ratio of 7.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

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.