Bath & Body Works Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BBWI)

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 17,302 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 198% compared to the average volume of 5,811 put options.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of BBWI stock opened at $36.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.67. Bath & Body Works has a one year low of $26.20 and a one year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. Bath & Body Works’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bath & Body Works will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 27,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,385 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $321,000. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBWI has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of 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, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.06.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc operates a specialty retailer of home fragrance, body care, and soaps and sanitizer products. It sells its products under the Bath & Body Works, White Barn, and other brand names through retail stores and e-commerce sites located in the United States and Canada, as well as through international stores operated by partners under franchise, license, and wholesale arrangements.