Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Bought by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 32.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,784 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,964 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $2,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 17,496.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,516,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,315,000 after acquiring an additional 2,501,828 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,704,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,088,000 after acquiring an additional 195,813 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the third quarter valued at $50,483,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 19.1% in the third quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,851,000 after acquiring an additional 235,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 111.8% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,345,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,957,000 after acquiring an additional 710,333 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBWI opened at $29.54 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.20, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $26.21 and a one year high of $52.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.00.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for 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%. Analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BBWI. Citigroup upgraded Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays reduced their target price on Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.06.

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.