Piper Sandler Upgrades Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) to “Hold”

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) was upgraded by analysts at Piper Sandler to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on BBWI. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup downgraded Bath & Body Works from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $21.00 to $25.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays raised their price target on Bath & Body Works from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Bath & Body Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.54.

Bath & Body Works Stock Down 4.8%

Shares of BBWI stock opened at $17.10 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.14 and a 200 day moving average of $20.66. Bath & Body Works has a 52 week low of $14.27 and a 52 week high of $34.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.43, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.43.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.59 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 45.60% and a net margin of 8.90%.The firm’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. Bath & Body Works has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.240-0.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.400-2.650 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBWI. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 132.5% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,445,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,834,000 after buying an additional 6,523,960 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 2,204.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,174,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,292,000 after buying an additional 4,949,796 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 553.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,714,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,685,000 after buying an additional 3,145,797 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter worth about $55,504,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter worth about $54,785,000. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Company 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.