According to Bloomberg Ratings, all 23 of the research firms covering Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE: BBWI) have given the stock a recommendation of “Moderate Buy,” which indicates the general sentiment regarding the stock is positive. The company’s stock has been assigned a buy rating by ten different investment analysts, a strong buy recommendation by one, a hold rating by one, a sell rating by one, and a hold rating by two. Most brokerages that rated the company in the prior year have established a price target of $51.52 per share for the company’s stock over the subsequent 12 months.
Recently, several research analysts have been focusing their attention on BBWI stock. In a research note published on Wednesday, December 7, Argus announced that they had raised their price objective on Bath & Body Works shares from $45.00 to $50.00. The previous price objective was $45.00. Citigroup raised their price target on Bath & Body Works shares from $48.00 to $50.00 and upgraded the stock from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report released on Friday, November 18. In a research report that was made public on Thursday, November 17, Robert W. Baird assigned the company the rating of “outperform” and increased their price objective for Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $50.00. In a report made public on Friday, January 6, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Bath & Body Works stock from $55.00 to $46.00. It downgraded the company from “overweight” to “equal weight.” Bath & Body Works now has a new price objective of $43.00, up from the previous price objective of $40.00 set by JPMorgan Chase & Co., which was announced in a research note that was made public on Tuesday, January 3.
Recently, several institutional investors have modified the processes by which they invest their money in the company in various ways. The percentage of the company’s stock that Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. owned increased by 12.8% over the first three months of 2018. As a result of the purchase of an additional 2,228 shares of the company’s stock during the most recent quarter, the value of Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in the company has increased to $940,000, bringing the total amount invested in the company to $940,000. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empl Retrmt SYS increased the amount of Bath & Body Works stock that is owned by 3.9% over the first three months of the year. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retreat SYS now has 34,484 shares in the company, following the purchase of an additional 1,301 shares during the quarter. At the moment, the value of these shares is equivalent to $1,648,000 in total. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased the percentage of ownership it held in Bath & Body Works by 253.4% over the first three months of the year. After making an additional purchase of 32,242 shares during the most recent quarter, Vontobel Holding Ltd. now has a total of 44,967 shares, valued at $2,244,000. This brings the total number of shares the company owns to 44,967. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased the proportion of Bath & Body Works stock that it held by 127.4 percentage points over the year’s first three months. As a result of the purchase of 15,642 additional shares over the term, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 27,922 shares in the company. These shares are valued at $1,335,000 and are held in the company’s direct holdings. During the first quarter, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased the percentage of ownership it holds in Bath & Body Works by 54.3%, making this the last and most important point. Following the acquisition of an additional 40,046 shares during the most recent quarter, Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 113,805 shares of the company’s stock, which has a value of $5,440,000. This brings the total number of shares owned by the company to 113,805. Hedge funds and other types of institutional investors own a total of 96.34% of the company’s shares.
On Thursday, the opening price of a share on the NYSE BBWI was $45.53 per share. The stock price has reached an average of $41.74 over the past 50 days, while it has reached $37.21 over the past 200 days. During the previous 52 weeks, a single share of Bath & Body Works has fluctuated between $25.75 and $62.26. Given its current market value of $10.40 billion, its P/E ratio of 11.86, its P.E.G. ratio of 1.02, and its beta value of 1.67, the company has sufficient financial resources.
The most recent quarterly earnings report for Bath & Body Works, Inc., traded on the New York Stock Exchange under BBWI, was made public on November 16. The company announced earnings of $0.40 per share for the quarter, which was $0.21 more than the consensus estimate among analysts, which was $0.19. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.48 percent, and the company had a negative return on equity 40.90% of the time. The revenue for the quarter came in at $1.60 billion, which was considerably higher than the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion from industry professionals. According to projections made by financial analysts, Bath & Body Works will bring in $3.15 in profits per share during the current financial year.
In addition, the company recently announced its quarterly dividend distribution, which took place on December 2 and was announced at the same time. Investors who were eligible to receive a $0.20 dividend payment as of November 18 were those who had registered ownership of shares as of that date. This results in a dividend yield of 1.76 percent as well as an annual dividend payment of 0.80 dollars. Thursday, November 17, was the last day dividends were distributed before they were discontinued. The payout rate for Bath & Body Works is currently at 20.83 percent.
Bath & Body Works, Inc. is a specialty retailer that also manufactures liquid hand soap, three-wick candles, home fragrance diffusers, and collections of fine fragrance mist, body lotion, and body cream for both the body and the home. They also sell “America’s Favorite Fragrances,” some of the most well-known and well-liked fragrances in the United States, and the products listed above.
