Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts are broadly neutral on Best Buy: Twenty-two brokerages assign the stock a consensus “Hold” rating, with 15 holds, five buys and two sells. The average 12-month price target is $83.10, below the reported opening price of $85.67.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Best Buy reported $1.28 in EPS versus the $1.23 consensus estimate and $8.94 billion in revenue versus $8.82 billion expected. Revenue increased 1.9% year over year, and analysts forecast approximately $6.56 in EPS for the current year.
• The company offers a sizable dividend but saw insider selling: Best Buy’s quarterly dividend is $0.96 per share, equivalent to a 4.5% annualized yield and a 71.11% payout ratio. Insiders sold roughly 1 million shares worth $77.3 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 80.96% of the stock.

Shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the twenty-two analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have given a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $83.10.

Several research firms have issued reports on BBY. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Best Buy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Best Buy from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Best Buy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Best Buy from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Best Buy from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th.

Best Buy Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of BBY stock opened at $85.67 on Friday. Best Buy has a 12 month low of $55.10 and a 12 month high of $91.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $82.01 and a 200-day moving average of $70.62.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The technology retailer reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 48.70%. Best Buy's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Best Buy will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 18th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Best Buy's payout ratio is currently 71.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Best Buy news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 500,350 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.12, for a total transaction of $38,086,642.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 10,930,586 shares in the company, valued at $832,036,206.32. The trade was a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 1,784 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.80, for a total transaction of $131,659.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,596,294. This trade represents a 7.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,002,134 shares of company stock valued at $77,283,527 over the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBY. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,932,812,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Best Buy by 99.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,997,871 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $525,120,000 after buying an additional 3,496,254 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Best Buy in the fourth quarter valued at $174,685,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Best Buy by 378.8% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,096,015 shares of the technology retailer's stock valued at $207,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,449,342 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Best Buy during the second quarter worth $174,893,000. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Best Buy

Best Buy Co, Inc is a leading North American consumer electronics retailer that sells a broad range of products including computers, mobile phones, televisions and home theater systems, major appliances, smart-home devices, gaming hardware and software, wearables and related accessories. The company operates through a mix of large-format stores, smaller specialty locations and an e-commerce platform, offering national and private-brand merchandise from major consumer-technology manufacturers as well as third-party sellers.

Beyond product retailing, Best Buy provides a suite of services aimed at installation, repair and ongoing technical support.

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