American Century Companies Inc. Raises Holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. $BBWI

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) by 2,204.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,174,370 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,949,796 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $133,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,080,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,120,000 after acquiring an additional 733,000 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Bath & Body Works by 5.8% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,737,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,904,000 after purchasing an additional 315,738 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its stake in Bath & Body Works by 42.7% in the second quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 5,409,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,276 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bath & Body Works by 5.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,203,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,322,000 after purchasing an additional 210,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GMT Capital Corp raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 8.8% in the second quarter. GMT Capital Corp now owns 4,067,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,847,000 after purchasing an additional 329,300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Bath & Body Works Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock opened at $22.73 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.48. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.27 and a 12-month high of $37.29.

Bath & Body Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.62%.

Key Headlines Impacting Bath & Body Works

Here are the key news stories impacting Bath & Body Works this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Telsey Advisory Group raised its price target on BBWI from $17 to $23 and kept a “market perform” rating, signaling modest analyst confidence in the company’s near-term outlook (small upside vs. current price). This can provide some support to the stock if other news is neutral. Telsey price target note
• Positive Sentiment: Bath & Body Works launched a limited-time PEEPS® fragrance and gifting collection — a seasonal product tie-in that can help drive traffic and gift-season sales if consumer demand is solid. Product collaborations are usually modest near-term positives rather than transformational. PEEPS collaboration
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks published a preview of Wall Street projections for Bath & Body Works’ fiscal Q4 results and key metrics. Analysts’ consensus expectations for revenue, comp sales and margins will be important when BBWI reports; the preview itself doesn’t move the stock but sets the bar for the upcoming earnings reaction. Zacks Q4 preview
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms (Rosen, Faruqi & Faruqi, Pomerantz, Bernstein Liebhard, The Gross Law Firm and others) have issued shareholder alerts about a securities class action covering purchases between June 4, 2024 and November 19, 2025 and are urging investors to file by mid-March deadlines (March 13–16, 2026). Heightened litigation activity increases legal and settlement risk and can weigh on the stock, especially while deadlines and potential lead-plaintiff developments are pending. See representative notices: Rosen notice Faruqi notice Gross Law Firm notice

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BBWI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $26.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Bath & Body Works in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Bath & Body Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.71.

About Bath & Body Works

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.