Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 414,042 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,273 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.19% of Bath & Body Works worth $13,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,571 shares of the company's stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,072 shares of the company's stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Northwest Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 13,094 shares of the company's stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 31,797 shares of the company's stock worth $1,560,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens & Northern Corp lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 29,465 shares of the company's stock worth $1,151,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BBWI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 target price (down previously from $52.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered Bath & Body Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bath & Body Works

In other news, CEO Gina Boswell purchased 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.64 per share, for a total transaction of $177,840.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,202,134.68. This represents a 2.53 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

BBWI stock traded down $0.09 on Monday, reaching $31.45. 3,822,890 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,824,575. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.29. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $26.20 and a one year high of $52.99. The company has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.79.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 41.94% and a net margin of 12.69%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is 19.37%.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc operates a specialty retailer of home fragrance, body care, and soaps and sanitizer products. It sells its products under the Bath & Body Works, White Barn, and other brand names through retail stores and e-commerce sites located in the United States and Canada, as well as through international stores operated by partners under franchise, license, and wholesale arrangements.