Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Trading 4.8% Higher – Still a Buy?

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) traded up 4.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $20.60 and last traded at $20.58. 511,816 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 5,734,738 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.63.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBWI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered Bath & Body Works from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.00.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 5.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.21.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 45.34% and a net margin of 10.03%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. Bath & Body Works has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.400-2.650 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.47%.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBWI. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 132.5% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,445,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,834,000 after purchasing an additional 6,523,960 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2.2% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,861,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,991,000 after purchasing an additional 123,648 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2,204.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,174,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,292,000 after buying an additional 4,949,796 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,960,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,542,000 after buying an additional 110,602 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 86.9% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,399,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,568,000 after buying an additional 1,580,176 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a leading specialty retailer focused on personal care, home fragrance and complementary products. Through its flagship Bath & Body Works brand, the company offers a diverse assortment of shower gels, lotions, fragrance mists, candles and home fragrance items. Its product portfolio also includes the White Barn Candle Co range of premium scented candles and diffusers. Bath & Body Works serves consumers through a combination of brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms, delivering seasonal collections, limited-edition releases and signature scent lines.

Founded in 1990 as part of Limited Brands (now L Brands), Bath & Body Works opened its first store in New Albany, Ohio, and quickly expanded across the United States.