Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Short Interest Update

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,540,000 shares, a decrease of 7.8% from the July 15th total of 9,260,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 33,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BBWI. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $53.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.21.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of BBWI stock opened at $33.71 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.85. Bath & Body Works has a fifty-two week low of $27.30 and a fifty-two week high of $52.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.29.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 4th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 11.92% and a negative return on equity of 40.00%. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. Bath & Body Works’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Bath & Body Works will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 20.62%.

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.