Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Dividend Announcement

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) shares saw strong trading volume on Monday after the company announced a dividend. 9,391,517 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 146% from the previous session’s volume of 3,811,113 shares.The stock last traded at $31.58 and had previously closed at $30.00.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.53%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $52.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price (down from $52.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.44.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a PE ratio of 7.26, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.87.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.69% and a negative return on equity of 41.94%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Bath & Body Works

In other Bath & Body Works news, CEO Gina Boswell purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were bought 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 owns 242,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,202,134.68. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,398,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,370,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,124 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 11,315,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,871,000 after buying an additional 1,547,399 shares during the last quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 2nd quarter worth $113,995,000. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,088,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,564,000 after buying an additional 189,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 9,023.5% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,701,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,322,000 after buying an additional 1,683,160 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

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.