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

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of 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 company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 99.7% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased 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 valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock traded up $1.22 on Wednesday, hitting $31.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,262,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,512,370. The company has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.17. Bath & Body Works has a 1 year low of $26.21 and a 1 year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. As a group, analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.06.

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.