Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Has $16 Million Holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 412,722 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,781 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned about 0.19% of Bath & Body Works worth $16,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,572,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 79.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,882,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,507,000 after buying an additional 1,715,096 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,768,000 after buying an additional 1,360,264 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 331.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,144,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,376,000 after acquiring an additional 879,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 328.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,069,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,153,000 after acquiring an additional 820,379 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBWI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.06.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of BBWI stock opened at $27.11 on Friday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.41 and a 52-week high of $52.99. The stock has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.61, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $34.45 and its 200-day moving average is $34.13.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.