Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.06.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BBWI shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 99.7% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 14,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

BBWI stock opened at $30.93 on Friday. Bath & Body Works has a one year low of $26.21 and a one year high of $52.99. The firm has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a PE ratio of 7.54, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.03.

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

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

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.