First Trust Advisors LP Grows Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. $BBWI

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 19.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 596,754 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,296 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.30% of Bath & Body Works worth $11,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BBWI. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 217.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Bath & Body Works from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised Bath & Body Works from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.93.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE BBWI opened at $20.13 on Friday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.27 and a fifty-two week high of $32.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.15 and a 200-day moving average of $20.37. The stock has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.38.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 45.34% and a net margin of 10.03%.The business had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Bath & Body Works has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.400-2.650 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 22.47%.

Bath & Body Works Profile

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a leading specialty retailer focused on personal care, home fragrance and complementary products. Through its flagship Bath & Body Works brand, the company offers a diverse assortment of shower gels, lotions, fragrance mists, candles and home fragrance items. Its product portfolio also includes the White Barn Candle Co range of premium scented candles and diffusers. Bath & Body Works serves consumers through a combination of brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms, delivering seasonal collections, limited-edition releases and signature scent lines.

Founded in 1990 as part of Limited Brands (now L Brands), Bath & Body Works opened its first store in New Albany, Ohio, and quickly expanded across the United States.