Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 49.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 594,307 shares of the company's stock after selling 591,779 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.27% of Bath & Body Works worth $23,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,982 shares of the company's stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 99.7% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 81.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $28.42. 4,852,461 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,727,089. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.29 and a 200-day moving average of $33.86. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $52.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.78 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on BBWI. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James lowered their target price on Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.13.

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.