Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) Trading Up 1.2% Following Dividend Announcement

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) traded up 1.2% on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $89.86 and last traded at $89.58. 986,052 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 3,051,501 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.48.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BBY shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Best Buy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Best Buy from $109.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $95.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Best Buy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.82.

Best Buy Stock Down 0.4 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.47.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The technology retailer reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.18. Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BBY. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Best Buy by 190.9% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 320 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Best Buy in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Best Buy during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Best Buy by 632.1% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 388 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Best Buy by 53.3% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 492 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 171 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.