Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $36.47, but opened at $38.41. Bath & Body Works shares last traded at $39.40, with a volume of 1,137,123 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBWI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $41.00 to $47.00 in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.56.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 9.4 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.72. The stock has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.83.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 99.7% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 24.2% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 14,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Bath & Body Works

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.