Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 690 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,465 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 690 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 3.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 31,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,349,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 23,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 4.0% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 15,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Bath & Body Works

In other news, insider Thomas E. Mazurek sold 4,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total transaction of $209,493.65. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,992 shares in the company, valued at $2,248,548.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBWI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $30.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays downgraded Bath & Body Works from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $37.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.73.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Bath & Body Works stock opened at $45.60 on Friday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.30 and a 12-month high of $50.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.43. The stock has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.86.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 37.01% and a net margin of 11.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.78%.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

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.