Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Stake Raised by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 105.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 641,331 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 328,942 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $24,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 99.7% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5,270.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 81.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

NYSE:BBWI opened at $31.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $35.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.00. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.21 and a 52 week high of $52.99.

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

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BBWI shares. Citigroup raised Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.06.

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.