Traders Purchase High Volume of Bath & Body Works Put Options (NYSE:BBWI)

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 16,219 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 157% compared to the typical volume of 6,317 put options.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BBWI traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $29.91. 1,430,828 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,068,111. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.00. The firm has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.30, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. Bath & Body Works has a twelve month low of $26.21 and a twelve month high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, analysts expect that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BBWI. D1 Capital Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at $109,797,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,501,828 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at $73,572,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 79.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,882,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,507,000 after buying an additional 1,715,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,483,000. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

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.