UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 632,317 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC cut its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 54.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 526,073 shares of the company’s stock after selling 632,317 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $20,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,199,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,093,306,000 after purchasing an additional 208,036 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,235,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $396,815,000 after purchasing an additional 422,973 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,494,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,317,000 after purchasing an additional 445,887 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anomaly Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 4,860,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,752 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE BBWI opened at $30.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.43, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.96 and a twelve month high of $52.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.01.

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

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BBWI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler set a $39.00 target price on Bath & Body Works and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.56.

Bath & Body Works 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.