Bath & Body Works, Inc. $BBWI Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 88.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,605,847 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,222,401 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $78,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BBWI. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Bath & Body Works during the 1st quarter worth $1,292,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 53.5% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 58,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after acquiring an additional 20,381 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 126.3% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 271,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,141,000 after acquiring an additional 151,668 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the second quarter worth about $2,906,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the first quarter valued at about $1,314,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

BBWI stock opened at $15.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.53. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.27 and a 12 month high of $41.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.00.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 9.88% and a negative return on equity of 48.43%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Bath & Body Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.870- EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.700- EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lucy Brady acquired 3,470 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.40 per share, for a total transaction of $49,968.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,740.80. This trade represents a 24.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven E. Voskuil acquired 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.04 per share, for a total transaction of $300,800.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 33,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $510,232. This trade represents a 143.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 33,513 shares of company stock valued at $500,442 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. New Street Research set a $26.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $32.00 to $28.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Baird R W downgraded Bath & Body Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.84.

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.