Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $106.55.

SBUX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Starbucks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th.

Starbucks Stock Up 0.2 %

SBUX stock opened at $88.49 on Friday. Starbucks has a fifty-two week low of $84.29 and a fifty-two week high of $115.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.25. The stock has a market cap of $100.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.98.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The coffee company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $8.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.12 billion. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 50.76% and a net margin of 11.70%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Starbucks will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total transaction of $305,597.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 84,153 shares in the company, valued at $7,912,906.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 7,250 shares of company stock worth $651,738 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starbucks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBUX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the fourth quarter worth $1,240,652,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 8,677.8% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,715,405 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $260,706,000 after acquiring an additional 2,684,470 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 2,624.3% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,150,309 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $196,516,000 after acquiring an additional 2,071,378 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 342.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,160,737 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $207,444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,672,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 432.5% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,039,633 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $195,825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,656,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

About Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a roaster, marketer, and retailer of coffee worldwide. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Channel Development. Its stores offer coffee and tea beverages, roasted whole beans and ground coffees, single serve products, and ready-to-drink beverages; and various food products, such as pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and lunch items.