Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BBY. Barclays raised their target price on Best Buy from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Best Buy from $115.00 to $109.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 target price on shares of Best Buy in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Best Buy from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on Best Buy in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.35.

Best Buy Price Performance

Best Buy stock opened at $89.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.45. The stock has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.47. Best Buy has a 12-month low of $62.92 and a 12-month high of $103.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted 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 business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Best Buy will post 6.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Best Buy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is 64.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BBY. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Best Buy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $121,325,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Best Buy by 4,337.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,074,718 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Best Buy by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,863,291 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $241,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,824 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Best Buy in the 1st quarter valued at $43,522,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Best Buy by 55.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,379,195 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $116,252,000 after purchasing an additional 491,781 shares during the period. 80.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.