Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Short Interest Down 9.3% in October

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,440,000 shares, a drop of 9.3% from the October 15th total of 10,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 4.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Bath & Body Works

In other Bath & Body Works news, CEO Gina Boswell bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $29.64 per share, for a total transaction of $177,840.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,202,134.68. The trade was a 2.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Northwest Bank & Trust Co boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 13,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 1.0% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 31,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 24.2% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on BBWI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $60.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective (down previously from $52.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.44.

Bath & Body Works Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of BBWI traded down $1.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $30.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,666,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,820,104. The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.29. The firm has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.79. Bath & Body Works has a 1-year low of $26.20 and a 1-year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 41.94% and a net margin of 12.69%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.37%.

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.