Bath & Body Works Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BBWI)

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 21,124 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 260% compared to the average daily volume of 5,875 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 24.2% in the 3rd 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 period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2.9% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BBWI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.44.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

BBWI traded down $5.00 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $36.08. 4,714,683 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,511,611. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.07. Bath & Body Works has a 1-year low of $26.20 and a 1-year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. As a group, analysts expect that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

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

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.