Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Boosts Stock Holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 43.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,300 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 23,500 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $2,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BBWI. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 99.7% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Bath & Body Works by 81.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 135.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BBWI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $47.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $49.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.69.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 3.8 %

Bath & Body Works stock opened at $28.77 on Wednesday. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.96 and a 12 month high of $52.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.85. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.69.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.98%.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.