T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Purchases 781,681 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. $BBWI

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 7.6%, purchasing 781,681 shares, bringing its total ownership to about 11 million shares valued at approximately $334 million.
• Various hedge funds have also expanded their positions in Bath & Body Works, with notable increases from firms like Hsbc Holdings PLC and Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc., leading to institutional investors owning 95.14% of the stock.
• Analysts have mixed sentiments on Bath & Body Works, with an average price target of $42.06 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy," despite several downgrades in target prices from major firms.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,016,767 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 781,681 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 5.17% of Bath & Body Works worth $334,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 6.6% in the first quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,690,449 shares of the company's stock worth $51,282,000 after purchasing an additional 104,989 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 64.9% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 470,478 shares of the company's stock worth $14,251,000 after purchasing an additional 185,221 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 115.7% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,680,104 shares of the company's stock worth $111,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,973,679 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 12.7% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,389,781 shares of the company's stock worth $72,458,000 after purchasing an additional 269,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 394.9% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,697 shares of the company's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $49.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bath & Body Works from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.06.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

BBWI stock opened at $29.6150 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.14. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $24.94 and a one year high of $41.87.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 11.10% and a negative return on equity of 47.44%. The company'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 earnings per share. Bath & Body Works has set its Q2 2025 guidance at 0.330-0.380 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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