Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 312,225 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,070,664 shares of the company’s stock after selling 312,225 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $80,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 5,270.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBWI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup raised Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.38.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

NYSE:BBWI opened at $36.22 on Monday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $26.20 and a one year high of $52.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.15. The firm has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. On average, equities research 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.