Investors Buy High Volume of Bath & Body Works Put Options (NYSE:BBWI)

Key Points

• Bath & Body Works saw a significant increase in trading activity, with investors purchasing 29,711 put options on Friday, marking a 305% increase from the daily average.
• Institutional investors control 95.14% of the stock, with notable increases in stakes from companies like Geneos Wealth Management and Golden State Wealth Management.
• The company reported $0.49 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 29,711 put options on the stock. Thisisanincreaseofapproximately305% compared to the average daily volume of 7,330 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 217.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 63.3% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 94.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of BBWI traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.06. The company had a trading volume of 2,780,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,114,897. Bath & Body Works has a twelve month low of $24.94 and a twelve month high of $41.87. The company's 50-day moving average is $29.85 and its 200-day moving average is $31.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.72.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 47.44% and a net margin of 11.10%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Bath & Body Works's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Raymond James Financial cut 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. 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 report on Wednesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler set a $39.00 price target on Bath & Body Works and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.19.

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.

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