Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Short Interest Up 23.5% in March

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,410,000 shares, a growth of 23.5% from the February 28th total of 6,000,000 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BBWI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 price objective on Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bath & Body Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.06.

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Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

BBWI stock traded down $0.74 on Friday, reaching $27.11. The company had a trading volume of 9,960,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,573,458. The company's fifty day moving average is $34.45 and its 200 day moving average is $34.10. The company has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.61, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. Bath & Body Works has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works's payout ratio is 21.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5,270.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 58.8% in the fourth 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 grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 81.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

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.