Captrust Financial Advisors Buys 5,859 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 36.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,918 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,859 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 52,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 12,964 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 88,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,428,000 after purchasing an additional 4,625 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth $258,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,704,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,088,000 after purchasing an additional 195,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth $1,350,000. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE BBWI opened at $33.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $52.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.93.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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. Research analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBWI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on 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 reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.69.

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.