Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report published on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $43.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $34.00.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on BBWI. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.44.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of BBWI stock opened at $41.04 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.07. Bath & Body Works has a twelve month low of $26.20 and a twelve month high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 99.7% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 14,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.