Bard Financial Services Inc. Makes New $412,000 Investment in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Bard Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 12,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $412,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 75.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 289.4% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 224.0% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Bath & Body Works from $60.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Barclays cut their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $35.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.35.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:BBWI traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.92. 4,786,485 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,690,518. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.73. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.20 and a twelve month high of $52.99. The company has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.77.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 41.94% and a net margin of 12.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.62%.

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.