Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Holdings Raised by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 36,384 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $1,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBWI. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Bath & Body Works in the third quarter worth about $735,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 124.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 54,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 30,369 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 374,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,959,000 after purchasing an additional 140,221 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 227.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 25,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,423 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Bath & Body Works by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $858,000 after buying an additional 3,007 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BBWI shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

BBWI opened at $31.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 7.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.33 and its 200-day moving average is $34.00. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $26.21 and a one year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works Profile

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.