Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Short Interest Update

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,000,000 shares, a growth of 31.0% from the February 13th total of 4,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BBWI. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 99.7% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 81.9% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 135.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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 note on Monday, March 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BBWI stock traded up $0.14 on Friday, reaching $30.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,058,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,264,684. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $35.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.93. Bath & Body Works has a 1 year low of $26.21 and a 1 year high of $52.99. The company has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.78 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

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.