State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Acquires 78,053 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 257.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 108,345 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 78,053 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury owned 0.05% of Bath & Body Works worth $4,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BBWI. Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the third quarter worth $412,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 50.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 265,221 shares of the company's stock worth $8,230,000 after acquiring an additional 89,350 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 328.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,069,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,153,000 after acquiring an additional 820,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 161.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,141 shares of the company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

NYSE:BBWI traded down $0.39 on Tuesday, hitting $30.83. The stock had a trading volume of 3,526,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,789,287. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $52.99. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $31.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.86. The stock has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.78 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Bath & Body Works's payout ratio is 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.69.

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.