Boston Partners Acquires New Shares in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Boston Partners bought a new position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 240,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,321,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 52,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after acquiring an additional 12,964 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,129,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 19.1% in the third 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,704,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,088,000 after buying an additional 195,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 1,078.2% during the third 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.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

NYSE:BBWI opened at $30.09 on Friday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.21 and a fifty-two week high of $52.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.93. The firm has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a PE ratio of 7.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89.

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

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BBWI. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.06.

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.