Norges Bank Invests $73.57 Million in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,897,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,572,000. Norges Bank owned 0.88% of Bath & Body Works as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BBWI. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 227.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 25,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 17,423 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 17,496.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,516,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,315,000 after buying an additional 2,501,828 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,158,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,976,000 after buying an additional 40,868 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 16,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 5,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,770,000. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BBWI shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective 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. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of BBWI opened at $31.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.84 and a 200 day moving average of $34.16. The company has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.21 and a 12 month high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

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.