Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Down 6% – Should You Sell?

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)’s stock price fell 6% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $31.71 and last traded at $32.16. 2,141,152 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 3,824,888 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BBWI. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 target price on Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Trading Down 4.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.17.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BBWI. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Bath & Body Works by 99.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 81.9% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 135.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.