Morgan Stanley Lowers Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Price Target to $48.00

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BBWI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.25.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of BBWI stock opened at $30.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.83. Bath & Body Works has a 52 week low of $26.20 and a 52 week high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.69% and a negative return on equity of 41.94%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.37%.

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 that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.64 per share, with a total value of $177,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,202,134.68. This trade represents a 2.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBWI. Anomaly Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the second quarter worth about $113,995,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 17,496.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,516,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,501,828 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 9,023.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,701,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,160 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the third quarter worth about $50,483,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 15.8% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 11,315,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

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.