Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Purchases 328,942 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 105.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 641,331 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 328,942 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.30% of Bath & Body Works worth $24,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 99.7% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5,270.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 81.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BBWI shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bath & Body Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

BBWI stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.56. The company had a trading volume of 923,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,490,849. The company has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.42, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.15. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.21 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's payout ratio is presently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.