Robert W. Baird Increases Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Price Target to $47.00

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) had its target price boosted by Robert W. Baird from $45.00 to $47.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.38.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BBWI opened at $36.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.70 and a 200-day moving average of $34.12. The stock has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. Bath & Body Works has a fifty-two week low of $26.20 and a fifty-two week high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid 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 19.51%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company 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 an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 99.7% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 5,270.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 81.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.