Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $84.60.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BBY. UBS Group increased their price target on Best Buy from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Best Buy from $68.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Best Buy from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Telsey Advisory Group raised Best Buy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Best Buy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Best Buy news, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 5,096 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 $416,852.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 76,226 shares in the company, valued at $6,235,286.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Best Buy news, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 5,096 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 $416,852.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 76,226 shares in the company, valued at $6,235,286.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 3,973 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 $324,991.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 25,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,119,601.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,023 shares of company stock worth $4,253,900. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 69.5% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 322 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 2.7% in the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 5,087 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,839 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avory & Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avory & Company LLC now owns 6,011 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Price Performance

Best Buy stock opened at $75.05 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.00. Best Buy has a 52 week low of $62.30 and a 52 week high of $86.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $78.02 and a 200-day moving average of $74.14.

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

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.08%.

About Best Buy

Best Buy Co, Inc engages in the retail of technology products in the United States, Canada, 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, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products, as well as home theaters, which includes home theater accessories, soundbars, and televisions.