UMB Bank n.a. Increases Stock Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 58.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 905 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $35,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Bath & Body Works by 17,496.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,516,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,315,000 after buying an additional 2,501,828 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 9,023.5% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,701,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,160 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,483,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 19.1% during the third quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,851,000 after acquiring an additional 235,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 111.8% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,345,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,957,000 after purchasing an additional 710,333 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.19.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

NYSE BBWI opened at $36.98 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.64. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.20 and a twelve month high of $52.99. The stock has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.82.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.51%.

Bath & Body Works 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.