Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,250,000 shares, a decline of 12.6% from the October 31st total of 9,440,000 shares. Approximately 3.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BBWI. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $54.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $35.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (down previously from $52.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bath & Body Works news, CEO Gina Boswell bought 6,000 shares of Bath & Body Works stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.64 per share, for a total transaction of $177,840.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,987 shares in the company, valued at $7,202,134.68. This represents a 2.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Anomaly Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $113,995,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,501,828 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 9,023.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,701,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,322,000 after buying an additional 1,683,160 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,483,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 11,315,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,399 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of BBWI stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.90. 3,985,492 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,000,406. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.30. Bath & Body Works has a 12-month low of $26.20 and a 12-month high of $52.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.83.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its quarterly 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. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Bath & Body Works will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.51%.

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.