JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) to Overweight

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $47.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $41.00.

Several other research firms have also commented on BBWI. TD Cowen increased 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler increased 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.63.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Bath & Body Works stock traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.51. The company had a trading volume of 5,441,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,304,652. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $37.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.86. The company has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.83. Bath & Body Works has a 1 year low of $26.20 and a 1 year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,982 shares of the company's stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 99.7% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 14,700 shares of the company's stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

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.