New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 239,140 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,752 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.11% of Bath & Body Works worth $7,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 52,784 shares of the company's stock worth $2,046,000 after buying an additional 12,964 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 38.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,711 shares of the company's stock worth $1,265,000 after buying an additional 11,681 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 88,423 shares of the company's stock worth $3,428,000 after buying an additional 4,625 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter worth about $258,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the first quarter worth about $714,000. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Bath & Body Works from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.00.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 2.3%

NYSE BBWI traded up $0.76 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.56. 7,767,720 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,210,250. The company has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.62. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.94 and a 12-month high of $41.87.

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

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.33%.

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.