Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 63,607 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 577,153 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 63,607 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.27% of Bath & Body Works worth $17,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 99.7% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 81.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 135.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 109.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

NYSE:BBWI traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.27. 4,101,244 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,015,528. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.41, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.72. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $45.99.

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

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. Bath & Body Works's payout ratio is presently 21.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBWI has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Citigroup upped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on Bath & Body Works from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.