Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) to “Overweight”

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $48.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $42.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 31.69% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Bath & Body Works from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.06.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of BBWI opened at $36.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.82. Bath & Body Works has a one year low of $26.20 and a one year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Bath & Body Works will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. Anomaly Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $113,995,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 17,496.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,516,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,501,828 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Bath & Body Works by 9,023.5% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,701,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,160 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,483,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in Bath & Body Works by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 11,315,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

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.