Bath & Body Works Investors Should be Wary of Financial Changes
On May 26, 2023, Principal Financial Group Inc. made headlines as it trimmed its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. According to the company’s most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Principal Financial Group Inc owned about 0.12% of Bath & Body Work’s stock worth $11,669,000.
The skincare and beauty retailer had already declared another change that could make investors cautious. On June 16th, a quarterly dividend will be paid to stockholders of record on June 2nd who will receive a $0.20 dividend. This calculates to an annualized dividend of $0.80 and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 1st.
However, recently Chief Financial Officer Wendy C. Arlin sold 1,625 shares of Bath & Body Works stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th for $38.29 per share amounting to $62,221 in total transaction revenue. Following the deal’s completion, Arlin now owns only about .19% of the company’s stock despite being one of the highest up executives in the house.
These spurts could indicate some underlying financial issues at Bath & Body Works resulting in structures changes within management or potentially even revealing more significant hurdles faced by the company itself beyond Executive office handling that may lead to diminishing shareholder value.
Therefore investors are recommended to keep an eye out for future developments as any continued trend towards trimming holdings or activity with insider trading could provide information into what problems people inside are seeing.
Investors should also take note of analyst consensus targets on expected performance looking towards year-end results while keeping themselves abreast with SEC filings and balance sheets – knowing this highly competitive industry where growth is integral to profitability, indicators of waning sales or shrinking revenues should be further investigated and at the very least warrant a rethink regarding company’s investment potential.
Institutional Investors Diversify Positions in Bath & Body Works for Future Growth Potential
Bath & Body Works Sees Diverse Range of Institutional Investors in Recent Changes to Positions
Bath & Body Works, Inc. has recently seen a number of hedge funds and institutional investors make changes to their positions in the company. The move comes after Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH reportedly acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter, thought to be worth approximately $28,000.
Other institutions also made moves, with Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increasing its stake in shares by 50.4% for a total value of $29,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake by 151.4%, while Signaturefd LLC saw an increase of 60.7%. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC upped its stake in shares by 22.1%.
As it stands, 96.34% of Bath & Body Works’ stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
While some are clearly bullish on the company’s future potential, analysts remain divided on the firm’s valuation and future prospects.
51job recently issued a “maintains” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works while Citigroup increased its price objective from $37 to $38, Credit Suisse Group gave the stock a “neutral” rating following an increase from $42 to $46; Cowen upped its price target from $45 to $52; and Argus downgraded it from “buy” to “hold”.
Currently holding an average rating of “hold”, the consensus target price for Bath & Body Works stands at $46.45
The business has also recently declared a quarterly dividend payment that will be made on June 16th to those stockholders recorded as having been awarded a payment on June 2nd worth $0.20 per share with an annualized yield of 2.18%.
Data from May 26th indicates BBWI opened at $36.64 on the NYSE and had a market capitalization of $8.38 billion. The firm has a P/E ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00, and beta of 1.70.
Bath & Body Works reported earnings per share for the quarter ended May 18th of $0.33, beating the consensus estimate by $0.07 while achieving revenues of approximately $1.4 billion during the same period compared to analyst predictions of approximately $1.39 billion for the year.
Overall analysts are anticipating positive growth prospects for Bath & Body Works with a predicted EPS of 2.98 for the current year and beyond. While perception is divided across Wall Street, institutional investors are appearing to diversify their positions in anticipation for future growth and returns on this lifestyle beauty brand as it expands its relevance to new customers globally.
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