Korea Investment CORP Increases Stock Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Korea Investment CORP lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 182.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,886 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 127,814 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.09% of Bath & Body Works worth $7,672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Bath & Body Works by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 52,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,046,000 after acquiring an additional 12,964 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,129,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,704,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,088,000 after purchasing an additional 195,813 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 1,078.2% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after buying an additional 45,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 29.0% during the third quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 377,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,065,000 after buying an additional 84,873 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on BBWI. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of BBWI stock opened at $30.29 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.15. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.21 and a 1-year high of $52.99. The firm has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.39, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. The company 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%. Analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

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.