Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $48.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $40.00.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on BBWI. Barclays upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $34.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.06.

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Bath & Body Works Trading Down 3.0 %

BBWI traded down $1.07 on Friday, reaching $34.26. The stock had a trading volume of 5,722,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,862,611. The business's 50-day moving average price is $37.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.17. The company has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. Bath & Body Works has a 12-month low of $26.20 and a 12-month high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. As a group, analysts predict that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BBWI. D1 Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at $109,797,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Bath & Body Works by 17,496.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,516,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,501,828 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $73,572,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,715,096 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 9,023.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,701,813 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683,160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.