1,715,801 Shares in Bath & Body Works, Inc. $BBWI Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,715,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,686,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.85% of Bath & Body Works as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 2nd quarter valued at $449,065,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 132.5% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,445,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,834,000 after buying an additional 6,523,960 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at $55,504,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the fourth quarter valued at $54,785,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 2nd quarter worth about $59,260,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.14% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Bath & Body Works

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bath & Body Works reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.62, well above the $0.24 analyst consensus, while revenue of $1.51 billion slightly exceeded expectations. Bath & Body Works Q2 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $2.60-$2.80, above its previous range of $2.40-$2.65 and ahead of the roughly $2.56 consensus. The company also reiterated revenue expectations of approximately $7.5-$7.6 billion. Bath & Body Works Raises Earnings Outlook on Higher Profit
• Positive Sentiment: Digital demand and direct-channel sales growth are offsetting weaker physical-store traffic. Management also highlighted ongoing transformation initiatives, including planned cost savings, stronger cash flow and potential balance-sheet improvement that could support future shareholder returns. Bath & Body Works lifts annual profit forecast
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings call and bullish commentary frame BBWI as a discounted turnaround opportunity, but investors will likely require sustained sales growth and execution before assigning a higher valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter net sales declined 2.3% year over year, and third-quarter adjusted EPS guidance of only $0.07-$0.12 is substantially below the approximately $0.27 consensus. The outlook reflects continued near-term pressure from store traffic and seasonality. Bath & Body Works falls despite earnings beat
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy put-option activity ahead of the report signaled elevated bearish hedging and helps explain the stock’s volatility despite the earnings beat.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 7.6%

BBWI stock opened at $18.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.31, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.01. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.27 and a twelve month high of $32.32.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.38. Bath & Body Works had a net margin of 10.03% and a negative return on equity of 45.34%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Research analysts predict that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BBWI shares. Citigroup raised Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Bath & Body Works in a report on Friday, May 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bath & Body Works from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.57.

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.