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

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 37,996 put options on the company. This is an increase of 549% compared to the typical volume of 5,859 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBWI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (down from $52.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Bath & Body Works from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Bath & Body Works stock opened at $29.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.77. Bath & Body Works has a 12-month low of $26.20 and a 12-month high of $52.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.06.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 20.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $439,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,220,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,675,000 after buying an additional 177,373 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter worth about $853,000. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc operates a specialty retailer of home fragrance, body care, and soaps and sanitizer products. It sells its products under the Bath & Body Works, White Barn, and other brand names through retail stores and e-commerce sites located in the United States and Canada, as well as through international stores operated by partners under franchise, license, and wholesale arrangements.