Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $714,000 in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought 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 & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $714,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter worth about $372,000. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $206,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 142.0% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,753 shares of the company's stock worth $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 6,291 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBWI opened at $26.64 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.83. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.96 and a fifty-two week high of $46.36.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is 21.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BBWI shares. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler set a $39.00 price objective on Bath & Body Works and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective 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 upped their target price on Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.

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