Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.27.

A number of research firms have commented on BBY. UBS Group increased their target price on Best Buy from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Best Buy from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Wedbush upped their price objective on Best Buy from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Best Buy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Best Buy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd.

Best Buy Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of BBY stock opened at $82.03 on Friday. Best Buy has a twelve month low of $62.30 and a twelve month high of $86.11. The company has a market capitalization of $17.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $76.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $14.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.58 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 48.45% and a net margin of 2.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Best Buy will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.58%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.08%.

Insider Transactions at Best Buy

In related news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $204,909.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,097,188.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Mathew Watson sold 2,505 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $204,909.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,097,188.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.80, for a total value of $324,991.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,119,601.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,874 shares of company stock valued at $3,916,093 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,391,369 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $1,671,073,000 after buying an additional 778,412 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Best Buy by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,152,129 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $803,778,000 after buying an additional 123,256 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Best Buy by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,885,308 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $773,724,000 after buying an additional 2,409,006 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Best Buy by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,478,759 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $311,139,000 after acquiring an additional 66,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Best Buy by 0.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,218,968 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $329,735,000 after acquiring an additional 27,257 shares during the period. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Best Buy Company Profile

Best Buy Co, Inc engages in the retail of technology products in the United States and Canada. The company operates in two segments, Domestic and International. Its stores provide computing and mobile phone products, such as desktops, notebooks, and peripherals; mobile phones comprising related mobile network carrier commissions; networking products; tablets covering e-readers; smartwatches; and consumer electronics consisting of digital imaging, health and fitness products, home theater, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products.