Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $30.71, but opened at $36.52. Bath & Body Works shares last traded at $37.17, with a volume of 1,255,687 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BBWI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lowered shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $52.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $54.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.25.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 16.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.83.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted 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 business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 41.94% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 19.37%.

Insider Transactions at Bath & Body Works

In other news, CEO Gina Boswell bought 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.64 per share, for a total transaction of $177,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,202,134.68. This represents a 2.53 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBWI. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position 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. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 300.0% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Bath & Body Works by 24.2% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

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.