Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 683,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,491,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.32% of Bath & Body Works as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 52,784 shares of the company's stock worth $2,046,000 after buying an additional 12,964 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 88,423 shares of the company's stock worth $3,428,000 after purchasing an additional 4,625 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,704,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,088,000 after purchasing an additional 195,813 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,350,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,264 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock traded up $0.89 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.64. 1,317,725 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,740,436. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $52.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.85.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. 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, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BBWI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $38.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their target price on Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four equities research 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.69.

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.