Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 265,596 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,087 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Bath & Body Works worth $9,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 44,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,613,000 after purchasing an additional 5,227 shares during the period. General American Investors Co. Inc. boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 23.3% during the 2nd quarter. General American Investors Co. Inc. now owns 264,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,922,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 1st quarter worth $703,000. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 374.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 195,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,336,000 after purchasing an additional 154,427 shares during the period. Finally, Rivermont Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 1st quarter worth $1,027,000. 94.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BBWI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Barclays raised shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.73.

Bath & Body Works Stock Down 1.0 %

BBWI opened at $29.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.84. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.30 and a fifty-two week high of $49.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.21.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 16th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 9.90% and a negative return on equity of 32.64%. Bath & Body Works’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 25.08%.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

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.