Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $41.08, but opened at $36.65. Bath & Body Works shares last traded at $36.60, with a volume of 1,617,941 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBWI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Tuesday. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.38.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 1.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.12.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy 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.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,129,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,851,000 after purchasing an additional 235,173 shares in the last quarter. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,921,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 328.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,069,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,153,000 after buying an additional 820,379 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 1,078.2% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 45,144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

About Bath & Body Works

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.