ARGA Investment Management LP Sells 74,188 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. $BBWI

Key Points

• ARGA Investment Management LP cut its Bath & Body Works stake by 12% in the first quarter, selling 74,188 shares and leaving it with 545,534 shares worth about $10.2 million.
• Bath & Body Works reported Q1 earnings of $0.32 per share, beating Wall Street estimates, while revenue came in at $1.38 billion, also above expectations, though sales were still down 3.2% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share and currently offers an annualized yield of 3.9%; analysts now have a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $22.00.

ARGA Investment Management LP lowered its position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 545,534 shares of the company's stock after selling 74,188 shares during the quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP owned about 0.27% of Bath & Body Works worth $10,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 42,000 shares of the company's stock worth $784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 14.3% during the first quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 61,277 shares of the company's stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 7,650 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the first quarter worth about $234,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 27.1% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,778 shares of the company's stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 3,149 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the first quarter valued at approximately $199,000. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Bath & Body Works stock opened at $20.34 on Friday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $14.27 and a one year high of $33.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 5.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.38. The business's fifty day moving average is $19.52 and its 200 day moving average is $20.41.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 45.34% and a net margin of 10.03%.Bath & Body Works's revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Bath & Body Works has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.400-2.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Bath & Body Works's payout ratio is presently 22.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBWI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised Bath & Body Works from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on Bath & Body Works from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.00.

Bath & Body Works Profile

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a leading specialty retailer focused on personal care, home fragrance and complementary products. Through its flagship Bath & Body Works brand, the company offers a diverse assortment of shower gels, lotions, fragrance mists, candles and home fragrance items. Its product portfolio also includes the White Barn Candle Co range of premium scented candles and diffusers. Bath & Body Works serves consumers through a combination of brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms, delivering seasonal collections, limited-edition releases and signature scent lines.

Founded in 1990 as part of Limited Brands (now L Brands), Bath & Body Works opened its first store in New Albany, Ohio, and quickly expanded across the United States.

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