Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 35,552 Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 35,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,378,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 17,496.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,516,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,315,000 after acquiring an additional 2,501,828 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,704,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,088,000 after acquiring an additional 195,813 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the third quarter worth about $50,483,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 19.1% in the third quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,851,000 after buying an additional 235,173 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 111.8% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,345,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,957,000 after buying an additional 710,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Bath & Body Works stock opened at $30.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.34, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.21 and a 52-week high of $52.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $35.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.93.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BBWI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.06.

About Bath & Body Works

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.