Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Purchases New Shares in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 49,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,919,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BBWI. Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 28,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at $242,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,585,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,546,000 after buying an additional 5,035 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter valued at $285,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 4,494.7% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 548,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,255,000 after acquiring an additional 536,305 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of BBWI stock opened at $29.54 on Friday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.21 and a 12 month high of $52.99. The company has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 7.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates 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 expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

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

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on BBWI. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.06.

About Bath & Body Works

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.