Citigroup Upgrades Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) to Buy

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) was upgraded by research analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $48.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $40.00. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 33.54% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Thursday. Barclays upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.25.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of Bath & Body Works stock opened at $35.95 on Friday. Bath & Body Works has a 1 year low of $26.20 and a 1 year high of $52.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.08. The company has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 12.43% and a negative return on equity of 44.03%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Bath & Body Works by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 89,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,863,000 after acquiring an additional 5,706 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 69.9% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 7,443 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter valued at $343,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 266,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,498,000 after purchasing an additional 40,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 70,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after buying an additional 3,553 shares in the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.