Howard Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Howard Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 9,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $363,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 24.2% in the 3rd 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 period. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.19.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 3.6 %

NYSE BBWI opened at $39.99 on Tuesday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.20 and a 12 month high of $52.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.73 and a 200-day moving average of $33.96. The company has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.83.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.51%.

Bath & Body Works 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.