First Trust Advisors LP Buys 274,876 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 99.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 550,759 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 274,876 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.25% of Bath & Body Works worth $21,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BBWI. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBWI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $49.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.19.

Bath & Body Works Trading Down 1.0 %

BBWI stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $30.20. The stock had a trading volume of 2,262,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,791,410. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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, equities analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Bath & Body Works's payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Company 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.