Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 134,587 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 71.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 54,259 shares of the company’s stock after selling 134,587 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $2,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBWI. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 52,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after buying an additional 12,964 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,129,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,704,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,088,000 after purchasing an additional 195,813 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 1,078.2% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 45,144 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 29.0% in the third quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 377,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,065,000 after purchasing an additional 84,873 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup raised Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 target price on Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:BBWI opened at $30.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.95 and a 200 day moving average of $34.17. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.21 and a 52 week high of $52.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.46, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase 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.

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.