KBC Group NV Sells 524,019 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

KBC Group NV trimmed its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 30.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,177,794 shares of the company's stock after selling 524,019 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned 0.54% of Bath & Body Works worth $45,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 17,496.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,516,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,315,000 after buying an additional 2,501,828 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,483,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP grew its stake in Bath & Body Works by 19.1% during the third quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,851,000 after acquiring an additional 235,173 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 111.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,345,777 shares of the company's stock worth $42,957,000 after acquiring an additional 710,333 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,303,487 shares of the company's stock worth $50,901,000 after purchasing an additional 86,204 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

BBWI traded down $0.77 on Friday, hitting $37.60. 1,335,974 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,943,504. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.20 and a 12 month high of $52.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BBWI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.19.

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.