Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Trading Up 6.7% – Still a Buy?

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) rose 6.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $18.45 and last traded at $18.5740. Approximately 2,018,681 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 5,927,990 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.41.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BBWI shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bath & Body Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Bath & Body Works from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $39.00 to $17.00 in a report on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Bath & Body Works from $26.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $33.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.17.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 5.75, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.51.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.05). Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 9.50% and a negative return on equity of 47.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Bath & Body Works’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Bath & Body Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.870- EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.700- EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 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 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 24.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven E. Voskuil purchased 20,000 shares of Bath & Body Works stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.04 per share, for a total transaction of $300,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,925 shares in the company, valued at $510,232. This trade represents a 143.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Francis Hondal acquired 3,343 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.99 per share, for a total transaction of $50,111.57. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 21,554 shares in the company, valued at $323,094.46. This represents a 18.36% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 33,513 shares of company stock valued at $500,442 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,292,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 53.5% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 58,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after acquiring an additional 20,381 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 126.3% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 271,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,141,000 after acquiring an additional 151,668 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the second quarter valued at about $2,906,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 11.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,080,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,120,000 after purchasing an additional 733,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

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.