Legato Capital Management LLC Makes New $663,000 Investment in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Legato Capital Management LLC acquired 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 Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 21,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $663,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $100,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter worth about $122,000. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE BBWI traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.55. 3,723,360 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,669,875. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.94 and a 12-month high of $41.87. The company has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.72. The business's fifty day moving average price is $30.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.12.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Bath & Body Works's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Bath & Body Works's payout ratio is 21.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BBWI. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.00.

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.