Brokerages Set Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Target Price at $42.25

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.88.

BBWI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price (down previously from $52.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

BBWI opened at $36.24 on Friday. Bath & Body Works has a 12 month low of $26.20 and a 12 month high of $52.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.57. The stock has a market cap of $7.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.79.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. Equities analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Insider Transactions at Bath & Body Works

In other Bath & Body Works news, CEO Gina Boswell bought 6,000 shares of Bath & Body Works stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 2.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works during the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 3.4% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 17,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 224.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,302,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,168,000 after buying an additional 32,791 shares during the period. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

About Bath & Body Works

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.