William Blair Analysts Decrease Earnings Estimates for Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) – Stock analysts at William Blair reduced their FY2024 EPS estimates for Starbucks in a research note issued on Tuesday, April 16th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now anticipates that the coffee company will post earnings per share of $4.03 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $4.07. The consensus estimate for Starbucks’ current full-year earnings is $4.03 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Starbucks’ Q4 2024 earnings at $1.21 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $4.68 EPS.

SBUX has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Starbucks from $102.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Starbucks from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Starbucks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.43.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of SBUX stock opened at $87.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $98.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.97. Starbucks has a 1 year low of $84.29 and a 1 year high of $115.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.42.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The coffee company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $9.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 11.70% and a negative return on equity of 50.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starbucks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Starbucks by 481.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,547,411 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $148,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,471 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 56,939 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $5,197,000 after acquiring an additional 7,619 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks during the 4th quarter worth about $794,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,464 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motco boosted its stake in shares of Starbucks by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 74,829 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $6,830,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Starbucks

In other news, insider Michael Aaron Conway sold 3,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 84,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,912,906.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,250 shares of company stock valued at $653,183. Corporate insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is presently 60.96%.

Starbucks Company Profile

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.