Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Stock Position Decreased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Bath & Body Works by 7.7%, now holding over 26 million shares valued at approximately $789 million.
• Bath & Body Works reported a $0.49 EPS for the latest quarter, surpassing expectations, despite a slight revenue miss of $1.40 billion compared to the $1.42 billion forecast.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, with a projected annual yield of 2.8%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 21.33%.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,024,931 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,174,856 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.22% of Bath & Body Works worth $789,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in 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. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter worth $258,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the first quarter worth $714,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 764,195 shares of the company's stock worth $29,628,000 after buying an additional 27,136 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 3,642.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,651,109 shares of the company's stock worth $50,062,000 after buying an additional 1,606,988 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Wall Street Zen cut Bath & Body Works from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Bath & Body Works from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.19.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBWI traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.68. The company had a trading volume of 3,769,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,526,039. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.94 and a 1-year high of $41.87. The firm has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.30.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. Analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. 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.