Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $106.00 to $115.00. The stock had previously closed at $92.96, but opened at $97.83. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Starbucks shares last traded at $91.78, with a volume of 12,571,775 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on SBUX. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Starbucks from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Baird R W lowered Starbucks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Starbucks from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SBUX. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,379,619,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 54,924,230 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $5,011,796,000 after purchasing an additional 9,174,682 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $817,759,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,128,649 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,292,989,000 after acquiring an additional 5,348,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Starbucks in the first quarter valued at approximately $503,539,000. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Starbucks Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $105.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $91.57 and a 200 day moving average of $94.65.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The coffee company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.29 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 7.18% and a negative return on equity of 36.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Starbucks’s payout ratio is 88.41%.

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.