Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Raises Stock Holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 740.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,900 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 93,300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $4,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter worth $8,129,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 235,173 shares during the period. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works during the third quarter worth about $2,921,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 328.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,069,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,153,000 after buying an additional 820,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 1,078.2% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 45,144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BBWI opened at $36.05 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.67. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.20 and a 52-week high of $52.99.

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

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BBWI shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.19.

Bath & Body Works Company 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.