Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Down 4.5%

Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) dropped 4.5% on Monday . The company traded as low as $29.57 and last traded at $29.64. Approximately 727,746 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 3,412,709 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BBWI. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Barclays upgraded Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $41.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Bath & Body Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.13.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.32.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 23rd. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 30.08% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business’s revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in Bath & Body Works by 120.3% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 502,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,986,000 after buying an additional 274,400 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the third quarter valued at about $328,000. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,304,000. III Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. III Capital Management now owns 8,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 2,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $76,050,000. 94.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc operates a specialty retailer of home fragrance, body care, and soaps and sanitizer products. It sells its products under the Bath & Body Works, White Barn, and other brand names through retail stores and e-commerce sites located in the United States and Canada, as well as through international stores operated by partners under franchise, license, and wholesale arrangements.