Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,129,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 19.1% in the third quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,851,000 after purchasing an additional 235,173 shares during the period. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the third quarter worth $2,921,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 13.0% during the 4th 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. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 1,078.2% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 45,144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

NYSE BBWI opened at $29.54 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.00. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.21 and a fifty-two week high of $52.99. The company has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.20, a P/E/G 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BBWI. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays cut 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 research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.