Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI – Get Rating) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.50.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BBWI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $76.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Friday, May 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered Bath & Body Works from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 29th.

Insider Activity at Bath & Body Works

In other Bath & Body Works news, CFO Wendy C. Arlin sold 1,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.29, for a total transaction of $62,221.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 91,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,487,146.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 19,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,228 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 3.9% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 34,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,648,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 253.4% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 44,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 32,242 shares during the period. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 27,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 15,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 54.3% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 113,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,440,000 after acquiring an additional 40,046 shares during the period. 96.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

NYSE:BBWI opened at $38.51 on Wednesday. Bath & Body Works has a fifty-two week low of $25.75 and a fifty-two week high of $49.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.70.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 29.65% and a net margin of 9.67%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, June 2nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 1st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.32%.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

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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.