Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.94

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 29th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st will be given a dividend of 0.94 per share by the technology retailer on Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92.

Best Buy has raised its dividend by an average of 18.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Best Buy has a payout ratio of 56.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Best Buy to earn $6.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.5%.

Best Buy Stock Performance

BBY stock opened at $77.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.60. Best Buy has a one year low of $62.30 and a one year high of $86.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The technology retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.21. Best Buy had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 48.45%. The firm had revenue of $14.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Best Buy will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBY has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Best Buy from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Best Buy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $89.00 in a report on Monday, December 11th. TheStreet raised shares of Best Buy from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Best Buy from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Best Buy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 110,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $8,544,998.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 19,566,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,506,617,266. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Best Buy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Best Buy by 29.2% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,547 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Best Buy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 39,097 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $3,554,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its stake in Best Buy by 31.1% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 105,369 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $9,578,000 after acquiring an additional 24,977 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in Best Buy in the first quarter valued at $499,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Best Buy by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,144 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Best Buy Company Profile

Best Buy Co, Inc engages in the retail of technology products in the United States and Canada. The company operates in two segments, Domestic 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, home theater, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products.