IFM Investors Pty Ltd Buys 1,294 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,663 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,294 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $2,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at $101,669,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $76,050,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 10,448,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,973,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,471 shares during the period. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 379.2% during the fourth quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 1,903,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,110 shares during the period. Finally, Cadian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,266,000. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BBWI. UBS Group raised their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Bath & Body Works from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $37.00 to $45.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.73.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of BBWI stock traded up $0.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.04. The company had a trading volume of 1,542,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,433,098. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.86. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $27.30 and a one year high of $50.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.54.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 37.01% and a net margin of 11.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.86 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 20.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Thomas E. Mazurek sold 4,285 shares of Bath & Body Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total value of $209,493.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,248,548.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc operates a specialty retailer of home fragrance, body care, and soaps and sanitizer products. It sells its products under the Bath & Body Works, White Barn, and other brand names through retail stores and e-commerce sites located in the United States and Canada, as well as through international stores operated by partners under franchise, license, and wholesale arrangements.