Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Sold by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,065 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $1,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BBWI. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 4.9% in 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. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 24.2% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Bath & Body Works stock opened at $36.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.20 and a 1 year high of $52.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.12.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The firm 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 predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.51%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has initiated 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 reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BBWI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen raised their target price 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 lifted their price target for the company from $34.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 price target on Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.38.

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.