Investors Purchase High Volume of Bath & Body Works Put Options (NYSE:BBWI)

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 21,124 put options on the company. This is an increase of 260% compared to the average daily volume of 5,875 put options.

Bath & Body Works Trading Down 12.2 %

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock traded down $5.00 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.08. The stock had a trading volume of 4,714,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,511,611. Bath & Body Works has a 52 week low of $26.20 and a 52 week high of $52.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.07. The company has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83.

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 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBWI. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 99.7% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% in 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. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 14,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBWI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised Bath & Body Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $34.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $41.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.44.

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.