Groupama Asset Managment Reduces Stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Groupama Asset Managment reduced its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 83.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,294 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,707 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 17,496.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,516,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,501,828 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,572,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 79.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,882,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,507,000 after acquiring an additional 1,715,096 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,768,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 331.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,144,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,376,000 after acquiring an additional 879,387 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Trading Down 12.5 %

BBWI opened at $27.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.78, a P/E/G 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.11.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BBWI. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.06.

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.