Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,355 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $2,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,129,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,851,000 after purchasing an additional 235,173 shares during the last quarter. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,921,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 328.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,069,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,153,000 after purchasing an additional 820,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 1,078.2% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 45,144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

NYSE:BBWI opened at $36.22 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.70 and its 200 day moving average is $34.15. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.20 and a fifty-two week high of $52.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBWI has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 price objective on Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.38.

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.