Short Interest in Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Drops By 20.6%

Key Points

• Short interest in Best Buy fell by 20.6% in March to 18,333,972 shares (about 8.8% of shares sold short), leaving a days-to-cover ratio of 3.5.
• Insiders sold 77,247 shares (~$4.95M) over the last three months — including two EVPs who reduced their stakes — and corporate insiders now own just 0.47% of the company.
• Shares traded up to $64.68 while analysts maintain an overall "Hold" consensus with a $74.85 target, and Best Buy raised its quarterly dividend to $0.96 (annualized $3.84, ~5.9% yield).

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 18,333,972 shares, a drop of 20.6% from the March 15th total of 23,082,971 shares. Currently, 8.8% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 5,202,722 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Insider Activity at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 8,049 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total transaction of $515,296.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 102,669 shares in the company, valued at $6,572,869.38. This trade represents a 7.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jason J. Bonfig sold 6,336 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.02, for a total value of $405,630.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 79,137 shares in the company, valued at $5,066,350.74. The trade was a 7.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 77,247 shares of company stock worth $4,945,353 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in Best Buy by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,436 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 4,701 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Best Buy by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 29,560 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $1,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its position in Best Buy by 127.7% during the 2nd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 12,997 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 7,288 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in Best Buy by 155.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 160,568 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $10,779,000 after acquiring an additional 97,688 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Best Buy by 32.0% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 313,584 shares of the technology retailer's stock worth $21,051,000 after acquiring an additional 76,102 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BBY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Best Buy from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Monday, February 2nd. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Best Buy in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Best Buy from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $59.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday. Truist Financial cut their price target on Best Buy from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on Best Buy from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.85.

Best Buy Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of Best Buy stock traded up $1.29 during trading on Thursday, reaching $64.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,970,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,142,017. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $13.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.35. Best Buy has a 1-year low of $59.77 and a 1-year high of $84.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.55.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The technology retailer reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $13.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.96 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 49.17% and a net margin of 2.56%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.300-6.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Best Buy will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th were given a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 24th. This is a positive change from Best Buy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Best Buy's payout ratio is 76.19%.

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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