Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Buy” Rating

Citigroup upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $48.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $40.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BBWI. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised Bath & Body Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $34.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday. Five research 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.38.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BBWI opened at $36.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.12. Bath & Body Works has a 1-year low of $26.20 and a 1-year high of $52.99. The company has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83, a P/E/G 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.51%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter worth about $343,000. American Trust purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter worth about $205,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter worth about $2,920,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter worth about $576,000. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 14,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

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.