Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) Short Interest Up 11.9% in September

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWIGet Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,990,000 shares, a growth of 11.9% from the September 15th total of 8,930,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 4.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective (down previously from $52.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $52.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $54.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.35.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gina Boswell acquired 6,000 shares of Bath & Body Works stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.64 per share, for a total transaction of $177,840.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 242,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,202,134.68. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Anomaly Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works in the second quarter valued at approximately $113,995,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 15.8% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 11,315,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,399 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 4.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,398,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,370,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,124 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP lifted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 230.0% in the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 1,280,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,007,000 after acquiring an additional 892,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,867,000. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock traded up $0.08 on Tuesday, hitting $31.11. 3,133,145 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,696,730. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.78. Bath & Body Works has a 1-year low of $26.20 and a 1-year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWIGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 41.94% and a net margin of 12.69%. Research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.62%.

About Bath & Body Works

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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.

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