Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Up 5.9% – Should You Buy?

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)’s stock price shot up 5.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $30.66 and last traded at $30.63. 954,895 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 3,696,849 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BBWI shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.13.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.38. The company has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.79.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.69% and a negative return on equity of 41.94%. On average, research analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.37%.

Insider Activity at Bath & Body Works

In related news, CEO Gina Boswell acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.64 per share, for a total transaction of $177,840.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,202,134.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 28.1% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 258,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,936,000 after acquiring an additional 56,764 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 46.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 131,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,572,000 after acquiring an additional 41,995 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 4.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,398,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,370,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,124 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 968.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 190,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,542,000 after acquiring an additional 172,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 576.9% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 22,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 19,431 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

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.