Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Has $9.92 Million Stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Key Points

• Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Bath & Body Works by 17.1%, selling 67,371 shares, leaving it with 327,113 shares valued at approximately $9.92 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings on Bath & Body Works, with Citigroup targeting $42.00 and giving a "buy" rating, while the stock holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Bath & Body Works reported a net margin of 11.10% with earnings per share of $0.49 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations of $0.47, despite revenue falling short at $1.40 billion.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 17.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 327,113 shares of the company's stock after selling 67,371 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Bath & Body Works worth $9,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BBWI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 94.7% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,320 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 65.9% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,501 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 44.3% in the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $122,000. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BBWI shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bath & Body Works from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.00.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

NYSE BBWI traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.55. 3,723,360 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,669,875. The company's 50-day moving average is $30.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.12. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $24.94 and a one year high of $41.87. The company has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.72.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 11.10% and a negative return on equity of 47.44%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Bath & Body Works's payout ratio is presently 21.33%.

Bath & Body Works 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.