Formula Growth Ltd. Purchases Shares of 58,000 Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Formula Growth Ltd. acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 58,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,249,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,572,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 79.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,882,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715,096 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,264 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter worth about $37,853,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 331.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,144,608 shares of the company's stock worth $44,376,000 after buying an additional 879,387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BBWI traded up $0.78 during trading on Thursday, hitting $29.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,414,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,200,996. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. As a group, analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $49.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.69.

Bath & Body Works 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.