Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $24.00. The stock had previously closed at $18.81, but opened at $19.55. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Bath & Body Works shares last traded at $19.7550, with a volume of 677,864 shares.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BBWI. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Bath & Body Works from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on Bath & Body Works from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Bath & Body Works from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 2nd quarter valued at $449,065,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 132.5% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,445,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,834,000 after buying an additional 6,523,960 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,737,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,904,000 after buying an additional 315,738 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,960,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,542,000 after acquiring an additional 110,602 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 86.9% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,399,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580,176 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 5.61, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.38 and a 200 day moving average of $20.14.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 45.34% and a net margin of 10.03%.Bath & Body Works’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Bath & Body Works has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.400-2.650 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.47%.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a leading specialty retailer focused on personal care, home fragrance and complementary products. Through its flagship Bath & Body Works brand, the company offers a diverse assortment of shower gels, lotions, fragrance mists, candles and home fragrance items. Its product portfolio also includes the White Barn Candle Co range of premium scented candles and diffusers. Bath & Body Works serves consumers through a combination of brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms, delivering seasonal collections, limited-edition releases and signature scent lines.

Founded in 1990 as part of Limited Brands (now L Brands), Bath & Body Works opened its first store in New Albany, Ohio, and quickly expanded across the United States.