Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Grows Stock Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 43.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,300 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,500 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $2,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBWI. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,572,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 79.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,882,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715,096 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,264 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 331.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,144,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,376,000 after purchasing an additional 879,387 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 328.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,069,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,153,000 after buying an additional 820,379 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock opened at $28.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 7.02, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.83 and a 200 day moving average of $33.85. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $52.99.

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. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.69.

Bath & Body Works Company 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.