Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $102.41.

BBY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Best Buy from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Best Buy from $86.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Best Buy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of BBY opened at $98.99 on Friday. Best Buy has a 52-week low of $62.30 and a 52-week high of $103.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.46.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The technology retailer reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.23 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 47.19%. Best Buy’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Best Buy will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total transaction of $290,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,210,276.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 88,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.25, for a total transaction of $7,813,831.50. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 13,602,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,200,451,777.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.02, for a total value of $290,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,210,276.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,383,370 shares of company stock valued at $122,233,276 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 4th quarter valued at about $165,164,000. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new stake in Best Buy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $121,325,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Best Buy by 4,337.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,099,495 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $92,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,718 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Best Buy by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,863,291 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $241,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,824 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Best Buy by 11,586.7% in the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 686,128 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $53,710,000 after acquiring an additional 680,257 shares in the last quarter. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.