SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires New Holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 35,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,079,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BBWI. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 99.7% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 81.9% during 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 shares of Bath & Body Works by 135.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 65.9% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,501 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 109.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,629 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BBWI. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price objective (down from $43.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.00.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of BBWI stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.23. 10,345,244 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,110,241. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $29.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.21. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.72. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.94 and a 1-year high of $42.37.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.