Critical Survey: Bath & Body Works (BBWI) and Its Rivals

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) is one of 27 publicly-traded companies in the “Retail stores, not elsewhere classified” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Bath & Body Works to similar companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, valuation, dividends and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Bath & Body Works has a beta of 1.83, indicating that its share price is 83% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bath & Body Works’ peers have a beta of 0.89, indicating that their average share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Bath & Body Works and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bath & Body Works	12.43%	-44.03%	14.45%
Bath & Body Works Competitors	-21.34%	-60.07%	0.73%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.1% of Bath & Body Works shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.7% of shares of all “Retail stores, not elsewhere classified” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Bath & Body Works shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.7% of shares of all “Retail stores, not elsewhere classified” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Bath & Body Works and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bath & Body Works	$7.43 billion	$878.00 million	9.32
Bath & Body Works Competitors	$8.76 billion	$153.49 million	-5.58

Bath & Body Works’ peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Bath & Body Works. Bath & Body Works is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Bath & Body Works and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bath & Body Works	1	6	9	0	2.50
Bath & Body Works Competitors	95	875	1511	62	2.61

Bath & Body Works presently has a consensus target price of $42.50, indicating a potential upside of 11.20%. As a group, “Retail stores, not elsewhere classified” companies have a potential upside of 8.90%. Given Bath & Body Works’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Bath & Body Works is more favorable than its peers.

Dividends

Bath & Body Works pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Bath & Body Works pays out 19.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Retail stores, not elsewhere classified” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.6% and pay out 28.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Bath & Body Works beats its peers on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

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. The company was formerly known as L Brands, Inc. and changed its name to Bath & Body Works, Inc. in August 2021. Bath & Body Works, Inc. was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.