Sound Shore Management Inc. CT Lowers Stock Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Sound Shore Management Inc. CT trimmed its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,234,214 shares of the company’s stock after selling 216,378 shares during the period. Bath & Body Works comprises 2.9% of Sound Shore Management Inc. CT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT owned approximately 1.03% of Bath & Body Works worth $86,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BBWI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Bath & Body Works by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,199,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,093,306,000 after acquiring an additional 208,036 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 17,496.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,516,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,501,828 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $66,088,000 after purchasing an additional 195,813 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,585,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,546,000 after buying an additional 5,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forest Avenue Capital Management LP grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 19.1% during the third quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,851,000 after buying an additional 235,173 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 0.5 %

Bath & Body Works stock opened at $30.24 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.99. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.21 and a 52 week high of $52.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.38, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.98%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BBWI shares. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup upgraded Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. 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 research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works 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.