Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Bath & Body Works, Inc. $BBWI

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 276,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,290,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Bath & Body Works as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Bath & Body Works by 267.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,993,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,073,000 after buying an additional 2,907,506 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 115.7% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,680,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,973,679 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bath & Body Works during the second quarter valued at approximately $57,746,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 88.4% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,605,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,016,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,029,000 after purchasing an additional 781,681 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBWI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bath & Body Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered shares of Bath & Body Works from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $38.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Friday, November 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.17.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBWI opened at $17.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.53. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.27 and a 1-year high of $41.87. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.64.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 9.88% and a negative return on equity of 48.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Bath & Body Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.870- EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.700- EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen D. Steinour bought 6,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.86 per share, with a total value of $99,562.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 48,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,880.50. The trade was a 16.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven E. Voskuil purchased 20,000 shares of Bath & Body Works stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.04 per share, for a total transaction of $300,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 33,925 shares in the company, valued at $510,232. The trade was a 143.63% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 33,513 shares of company stock valued at $500,442. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.