Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Stock Jumps 7.9% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Bath & Body Works shares jumped 7.9% to about $17.33, although trading volume was 81% below the daily average.
• Analysts remain cautious, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $22.13; recent target changes were mixed.
• The company beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.62 EPS versus $0.24 expected, but revenue fell 2.3% year over year. It also pays a $0.20 quarterly dividend, yielding approximately 4.6%.

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) traded up 7.9% on Monday. The company traded as high as $17.14 and last traded at $17.3260. Approximately 1,104,591 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 5,838,151 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.06.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBWI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Bath & Body Works from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 27th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.13.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 8.2%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.55 and a 200-day moving average of $19.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.40.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.38. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 53.48% and a net margin of 10.83%.The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Bath & Body Works has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.070-0.120 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.600-2.800 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. Bath & Body Works's payout ratio is currently 20.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the second quarter valued at $449,065,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,960,475 shares of the company's stock worth $79,542,000 after acquiring an additional 110,602 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,852,040 shares of the company's stock worth $53,248,000 after acquiring an additional 719,795 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 34.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,777,576 shares of the company's stock worth $51,857,000 after acquiring an additional 707,449 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter worth about $55,504,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on personal care and home fragrance products. Its portfolio includes body lotions and creams, shower products, fragrances, hand soaps and sanitizers, three-wick candles, wall-plug air fresheners, and other home-fragrance items. The company markets products under the Bath & Body Works brand and regularly introduces seasonal and limited-edition collections.

The company sells its products through a network of company-operated stores, its e-commerce website, and other direct channels.

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