Royce & Associates LP Invests $1.28 Million in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 32,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBWI. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the 4th 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. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 81.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 135.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James reissued 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. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Friday, January 10th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock opened at $30.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.52 billion, a PE ratio of 7.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The business 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. 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 authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication 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.