Great Lakes Advisors LLC Takes $2.52 Million Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. $BBWI

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 108,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,516,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.05% of Bath & Body Works at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BBWI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 2nd quarter worth about $449,065,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 132.5% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,445,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,834,000 after acquiring an additional 6,523,960 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Bath & Body Works by 5.8% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,737,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,904,000 after purchasing an additional 315,738 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 110,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 86.9% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,399,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580,176 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Bath & Body Works from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bath & Body Works from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.57.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of BBWI opened at $19.47 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.10. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.27 and a 52-week high of $32.32. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.47, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.38.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.03. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 45.34% and a net margin of 10.03%.The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 22.47%.

About Bath & Body Works

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.