Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Grows Holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,216 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 615 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 17,496.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,516,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,315,000 after buying an additional 2,501,828 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,483,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,851,000 after buying an additional 235,173 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 111.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,345,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,957,000 after buying an additional 710,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,158,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,976,000 after buying an additional 40,868 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 price target on Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of BBWI opened at $29.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $26.21 and a one year high of $52.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.36 and its 200-day moving average is $33.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. Analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.