Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires Shares of 263,607 Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 263,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,993,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.12% of Bath & Body Works as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes 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 acquiring an additional 208,036 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,235,086 shares of the company's stock worth $396,815,000 after purchasing an additional 422,973 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,494,089 shares of the company's stock worth $329,317,000 after purchasing an additional 445,887 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 1,360,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anomaly Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 4,860,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,752 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Bath & Body Works from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler set a $39.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $49.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 3.3%

Bath & Body Works stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.10. The stock had a trading volume of 5,114,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,137,640. The stock's 50 day moving average is $29.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.01. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.94 and a 1 year high of $41.87. The stock has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.72.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 47.44% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.33%.

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

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.