Prudential Financial Inc. Raises Stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 732,008 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,471 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.34% of Bath & Body Works worth $28,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its position in Bath & Body Works by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 33,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 5,203 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the third quarter worth about $735,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 124.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 54,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 30,369 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 374,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,959,000 after acquiring an additional 140,221 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 227.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 25,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after acquiring an additional 17,423 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE BBWI opened at $32.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a PE ratio of 7.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $35.52 and its 200 day moving average is $34.03. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBWI has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 price objective on Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.06.

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.