Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,834 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,215 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $1,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Keybank National Association OH bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $427,000. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC bought a new position in Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $345,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

NYSE:BBWI opened at $30.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of 7.36, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.23 and its 200 day moving average is $33.99. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.21 and a fifty-two week high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BBWI. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.06.

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.