Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Purchases New Holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 49,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,919,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the third quarter valued at about $8,129,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,851,000 after acquiring an additional 235,173 shares during the last quarter. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,921,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,704,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,088,000 after purchasing an additional 195,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 1,078.2% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 45,144 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Bath & Body Works stock opened at $29.54 on Friday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.21 and a 12-month high of $52.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 7.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. On average, analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.