Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Best Buy in a report on Friday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Best Buy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $89.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays upped their target price on Best Buy from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Best Buy from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.65.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of BBY opened at $87.42 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $87.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.97. Best Buy has a 12-month low of $55.10 and a 12-month high of $96.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The technology retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $9.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.59 billion. Best Buy had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 48.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Best Buy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.700-6.900 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Best Buy will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 116,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.15, for a total value of $10,695,113.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 116,173 shares in the company, valued at $10,705,341.95. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Richard Schulze sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.51, for a total value of $27,753,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in Best Buy during the second quarter valued at approximately $18,648,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the second quarter worth $2,734,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the 2nd quarter worth $1,932,812,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Best Buy in the 2nd quarter worth $1,224,000. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich boosted its holdings in Best Buy by 80.0% during the second quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich now owns 92,464 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $7,016,000 after acquiring an additional 41,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

About Best Buy

Best Buy Co, Inc (NYSE: BBY) is a specialty retailer of technology products and services. The company sells consumer electronics, computers and tablets, mobile phones, appliances, entertainment products, smart-home devices, gaming equipment and related accessories through its stores and digital platforms.

Best Buy also provides technology services through Geek Squad, including product installation, setup, repair, troubleshooting and technical support. Its operations include retail stores, e-commerce, delivery and fulfillment services, as well as membership and protection offerings.