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

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) saw a significant growth in short interest in 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. Based on an average trading volume of 4,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 52,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after acquiring an additional 12,964 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,129,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 13.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 195,813 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 1,078.2% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after buying an additional 45,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP grew its position in Bath & Body Works by 29.0% in the third quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 377,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,065,000 after buying an additional 84,873 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BBWI shares. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $47.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

BBWI stock traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, reaching $30.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,712,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,513,364. Bath & Body Works has a 52 week low of $26.21 and a 52 week high of $52.99. The company has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.17.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, equities analysts expect that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. 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.