Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Short Interest Update

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,720,000 shares, a decline of 22.8% from the March 15th total of 7,410,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 52,784 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 12,964 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 88,423 shares of the company's stock worth $3,428,000 after purchasing an additional 4,625 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 13.0% during the fourth 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 period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter worth $1,350,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,360,264 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of BBWI traded up $0.96 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $29.70. The stock had a trading volume of 3,868,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,772,789. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $31.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.81. The company has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.24, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. Bath & Body Works has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $52.99.

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

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BBWI shares. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.69.

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.