Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Trading 4.8% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Bath & Body Works shares rose 4.8% to $19.55, despite trading volume falling 88% below the average daily level.
• Analysts remain cautious: the consensus rating is “Hold” with an average price target of $22.29, while several firms recently lowered targets and Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to “Sell.”
• The company beat quarterly earnings expectations with $0.62 EPS versus $0.24 forecast and $1.51 billion in revenue, but sales declined 2.3% year over year. It also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, representing a 4.1% annualized yield.

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) shot up 4.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $19.70 and last traded at $19.55. Approximately 685,970 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 5,757,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBWI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bath & Body Works from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.29.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average is $20.32 and its 200-day moving average is $19.97. The firm has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.38.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 53.48% and a net margin of 10.83%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BBWI. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 125.2% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 103,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,392,000 after acquiring an additional 57,492 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the second quarter valued at $2,691,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2,145.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,363,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,065,000 after acquiring an additional 5,124,881 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 75.4% in the 2nd quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 113,932 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 48,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaGrep UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 2nd quarter worth about $367,000. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a leading specialty retailer focused on personal care, home fragrance and complementary products. Through its flagship Bath & Body Works brand, the company offers a diverse assortment of shower gels, lotions, fragrance mists, candles and home fragrance items. Its product portfolio also includes the White Barn Candle Co range of premium scented candles and diffusers. Bath & Body Works serves consumers through a combination of brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms, delivering seasonal collections, limited-edition releases and signature scent lines.

Founded in 1990 as part of Limited Brands (now L Brands), Bath & Body Works opened its first store in New Albany, Ohio, and quickly expanded across the United States.

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