Rafferty Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 73.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,825 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,657 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $109,797,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth $73,572,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 79.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,882,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,507,000 after buying an additional 1,715,096 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,768,000 after buying an additional 1,360,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anomaly Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 4,860,876 shares of the company's stock worth $188,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,752 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of BBWI traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,132,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,900,679. The firm has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.47, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $30.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.01. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.96 and a 52 week high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. As a group, research analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BBWI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Bath & Body Works from $49.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James dropped 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.56.

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.