Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation, fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $101.44.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Starbucks in a report on Monday. UBS Group set a $94.00 price target on shares of Starbucks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Starbucks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd.

Starbucks Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $83.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.98. Starbucks has a 12 month low of $75.50 and a 12 month high of $117.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $84.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.68.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The coffee company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.03). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 4.99%.The business had revenue of $9.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Starbucks will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 151.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, Director Jorgen Vig Knudstorp acquired 11,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $85.00 per share, for a total transaction of $994,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 53,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,513,160. This trade represents a 28.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starbucks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,438,902 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $9,596,931,000 after purchasing an additional 577,279 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Starbucks by 11.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 85,460,350 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $7,229,968,000 after purchasing an additional 8,774,198 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Starbucks by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 77,720,137 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $6,575,430,000 after buying an additional 1,462,874 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Starbucks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,513,332 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $4,353,647,000 after buying an additional 544,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,846,634 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $2,357,815,000 after buying an additional 99,983 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is a global coffeehouse chain and roaster that operates, licenses and franchises coffee shops and related retail businesses. Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, the company grew from a single store focused on whole-bean coffee and equipment into a broad consumer-facing brand. Howard Schultz, who joined the company later and served in senior leadership roles, is widely credited with transforming Starbucks into a mass-market specialty coffee retailer and expanding its footprint internationally.

Starbucks’ core activities center on the retail sale of hot and cold specialty beverages, whole-bean and packaged coffees, teas and ready-to-drink products, along with complementary food items and merchandise such as mugs and brewing equipment.