Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Rating Increased to Hold at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on BBWI. Piper Sandler started coverage on Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $22.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.13.

Bath & Body Works Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE:BBWI opened at $17.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.63. Bath & Body Works has a 12 month low of $14.27 and a 12 month high of $28.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.38.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 53.48% and a net margin of 10.83%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Bath & Body Works has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.070-0.120 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.600-2.800 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is 20.83%.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Bath & Body Works in the 2nd quarter valued at about $449,065,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 132.5% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,445,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,834,000 after buying an additional 6,523,960 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 2,145.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,363,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,065,000 after buying an additional 5,124,881 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,504,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,785,000. 95.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a leading specialty retailer focused on personal care, home fragrance and complementary products. Through its flagship Bath & Body Works brand, the company offers a diverse assortment of shower gels, lotions, fragrance mists, candles and home fragrance items. Its product portfolio also includes the White Barn Candle Co range of premium scented candles and diffusers. Bath & Body Works serves consumers through a combination of brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms, delivering seasonal collections, limited-edition releases and signature scent lines.

Founded in 1990 as part of Limited Brands (now L Brands), Bath & Body Works opened its first store in New Albany, Ohio, and quickly expanded across the United States.