Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Receives $42.50 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BBWI shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down from $52.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Activity at Bath & Body Works

In related news, CEO Gina Boswell bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were bought at an average price 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. This trade represents a 2.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,129,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $46,851,000 after purchasing an additional 235,173 shares during the last quarter. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter worth $2,921,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Bath & Body Works by 328.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,069,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,153,000 after buying an additional 820,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 266,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,498,000 after buying an additional 40,793 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

BBWI stock opened at $39.09 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.15. Bath & Body Works has a fifty-two week low of $26.20 and a fifty-two week high of $52.99. The firm has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.83.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Bath & Body Works will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

About Bath & Body Works

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.