KBC Group NV Cuts Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

KBC Group NV trimmed its position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 30.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,177,794 shares of the company’s stock after selling 524,019 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.54% of Bath & Body Works worth $45,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 15,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $372,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 39,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 2,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen lifted 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. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.19.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

NYSE BBWI opened at $36.61 on Tuesday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.20 and a 12 month high of $52.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.61.

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

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 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.