Earnest Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. $BBWI

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 2.1%, owning approximately 1.3 million shares valued at $39.7 million as of their latest SEC filing.
• Bath & Body Works reported earnings of $0.49 per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenue reaching $1.40 billion but slightly below expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, yielding 2.5%, with a payout ratio of 21.33% and will distribute the dividend on September 5th.

Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,307,968 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 27,367 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned 0.61% of Bath & Body Works worth $39,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 94.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,320 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 65.9% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,501 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 1st quarter worth about $69,000. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BBWI shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Piper Sandler set a $39.00 price objective on Bath & Body Works and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.62.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

NYSE BBWI traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $29.23. 6,942,370 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,505,582. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.74. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.94 and a 1 year high of $41.87. The company has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.49.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.37. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 9.88% and a negative return on equity of 48.43%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Bath & Body Works has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.370-0.45 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 3.350-3.600 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.74%.

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.