Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Best Buy from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Best Buy from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on Best Buy in a research report on Monday. They issued a hold rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $102.41.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BBY opened at $97.84 on Monday. Best Buy has a 1 year low of $62.30 and a 1 year high of $103.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.82.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The technology retailer reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.18. Best Buy had a return on equity of 47.19% and a net margin of 2.96%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Best Buy will post 6.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.85%.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 691,328 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total transaction of $61,154,874.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,911,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,319,073,501.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Best Buy news, EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,210,276.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 691,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total transaction of $61,154,874.88. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,911,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,319,073,501.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,383,370 shares of company stock worth $122,233,276 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBY. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Best Buy in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,287,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Best Buy in the 2nd quarter valued at $902,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Best Buy during the 2nd quarter valued at $60,000. SPC Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Best Buy by 12.3% during the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 4,442 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in shares of Best Buy in the second quarter valued at $270,000. 80.96% of the stock is 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, 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.