Man Group plc Acquires 298,071 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Man Group plc raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 103.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 587,294 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 298,071 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.27% of Bath & Body Works worth $22,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 99.7% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bath & Body Works Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock opened at $33.91 on Friday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $52.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $29.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.89.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.69.

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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