Stock Repurchase Plan Authorized by Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI)

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BBWI shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.38.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

NYSE:BBWI opened at $36.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.12. Bath & Body Works has a 1 year low of $26.20 and a 1 year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. On average, analysts expect that Bath & Body Works 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, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.51%.

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.