Raymond James says Bath & Body Works is oversold and will jump nearly 70% from here

Bath & Body Works looks like one of the best deals for investors in the retail category, according to Raymond James. Analyst Olivia Tong initiated coverage of the stock with a strong buy rating, saying in a note to clients on Tuesday evening that shares of Bath & Body Works are oversold even if the U.S. economy slows significantly. “Retail stocks have been pummeled as the market assesses the extent of a potential slowdown, but even assuming a recession worse than that of 2008/2009, BBWI shares have been overly punished in our view,” Tong wrote. Raymond James set a price target of $45 per share, which is 67.5% above where the stock closed on Tuesday. Shares of BBWI are down more than 61% year to date, underperforming both the S & P 500 and the retail sector, as measured by the SPDR S & P Retail ETF . Bath & Body Works came into its current form last year, after the embattled L Brands spun off Victoria’s Secret into a standalone company. The remaining business should prove to be a resilient retailer in an economic downturn, according to Raymond James. “With BBWI’s customer loyalty (57% repeat customers), a long history of increasing spend (+70% from 2015-2020 to $111), and a consistent pace of innovation and package refreshes, we expect BBWI to be one of the most consistent growth compounders in the Beauty & Personal Care space. Retail has become more challenging, particularly for companies like BBWI that benefited during the pandemic, but during the Great Recession, BBWI comps turned negative for less than a year,” Tong wrote. With the corporate split and stock price decline, Bath & Body Works now has a market cap of roughly $6 billion. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.