Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Purchased by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 470.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,942 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,799 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 52,784 shares of the company's stock worth $2,046,000 after acquiring an additional 12,964 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works in the third quarter valued at $8,129,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 88,423 shares of the company's stock worth $3,428,000 after acquiring an additional 4,625 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,704,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,088,000 after acquiring an additional 195,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter worth about $1,350,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBWI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bath & Body Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.13.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 3.4 %

NYSE BBWI traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.42. The stock had a trading volume of 4,852,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,745,971. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.90. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, equities analysts anticipate 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 initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

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.