Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 313,092 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,144,292 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 313,092 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.99% of Bath & Body Works worth $83,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BBWI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,199,787 shares of the company's stock worth $1,093,306,000 after purchasing an additional 208,036 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,768,000 after buying an additional 1,360,264 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 79.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,882,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,507,000 after acquiring an additional 1,715,096 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,050,189 shares of the company's stock worth $118,256,000 after acquiring an additional 534,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forest Avenue Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 2,044,191 shares of the company's stock worth $79,253,000 after purchasing an additional 576,428 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on BBWI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.19.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 3.8 %

BBWI stock traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.18. 2,876,748 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,797,916. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $52.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.81.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.