National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Stock Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 1,945.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 193,201 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 183,755 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $7,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 331.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,144,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,376,000 after acquiring an additional 879,387 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,264 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 610.6% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 57,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after buying an additional 49,415 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 79.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,882,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,507,000 after buying an additional 1,715,096 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 954,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,019,000 after buying an additional 149,453 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on BBWI. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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 shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

BBWI stock opened at $27.11 on Friday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $25.41 and a one year high of $52.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.61, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.13.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.98%.

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.