Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $3.31 Million Stock Holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,491 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,545 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $3,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 99.7% during the fourth 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 lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 24.2% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 81.9% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BBWI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Stock Down 0.5 %

BBWI opened at $30.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.34, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.93. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.21 and a twelve month high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.