The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Price Target to $43.00

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) had its price target trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $44.00 to $43.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on BBWI. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

BBWI stock opened at $28.16 on Friday. Bath & Body Works has a 52-week low of $24.96 and a 52-week high of $52.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 21.33%.

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

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 99.7% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 217.7% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 81.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

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.