Traders Purchase High Volume of Bath & Body Works Put Options (NYSE:BBWI)

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 16,219 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 157% compared to the average daily volume of 6,317 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on BBWI. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 target price on Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth about $343,000. American Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth about $2,920,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth about $576,000. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 14,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Bath & Body Works stock traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $29.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,430,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,068,111. Bath & Body Works has a twelve month low of $26.21 and a twelve month high of $52.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 7.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.00.

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

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.98%.

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.