Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Takes Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Bath & Body Works by 5,449.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 395,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,089,000 after acquiring an additional 388,807 shares in the last quarter. Realta Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 22,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $976,000 after acquiring an additional 3,727 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 20,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,526 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BBWI. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.60.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of BBWI stock opened at $34.17 on Friday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.30 and a twelve month high of $52.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.30.

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

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 20.62%.

About Bath & Body Works

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.