National Bank of Canada FI Has $7.49 Million Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 1,945.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 193,201 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 183,755 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.09% of Bath & Body Works worth $7,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,199,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,093,306,000 after purchasing an additional 208,036 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,768,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360,264 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 79.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,882,047 shares of the company's stock worth $150,507,000 after acquiring an additional 1,715,096 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter worth about $73,572,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 195,813 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Down 9.0 %

BBWI traded down $2.71 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $27.30. 1,518,928 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,615,770. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $33.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.03. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.96 and a 1-year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBWI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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 report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $46.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.06.

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.