Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI)

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 39,275 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 228% compared to the typical volume of 11,964 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 217.7% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 63.3% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock opened at $22.36 on Thursday. Bath & Body Works has a 52-week low of $21.71 and a 52-week high of $41.87. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.53.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 9.88% and a negative return on equity of 48.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. Bath & Body Works has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.370-0.45 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 3.350-3.600 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 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, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 23.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on BBWI. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 29th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.18.

Bath & Body Works Company 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.