Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $41.08, but opened at $36.65. Bath & Body Works shares last traded at $36.60, with a volume of 1,617,941 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on BBWI shares. Barclays reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bath & Body Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.06.

Remove Ads

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.17.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.78 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $343,000. American Trust purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,920,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $576,000. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 14,700 shares of the company's stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.