Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Stock Price

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $88.00 to $84.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the coffee company’s stock.

SBUX has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Starbucks from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Starbucks from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $76.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Baird R W lowered shares of Starbucks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of Starbucks from $102.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Starbucks from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.15.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of Starbucks stock opened at $84.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $96.20 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00. Starbucks has a 1 year low of $71.55 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $93.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.38.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The coffee company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.10). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a net margin of 9.73%. The company had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Starbucks will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starbucks

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Starbucks by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 327,459 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $29,881,000 after acquiring an additional 2,722 shares during the last quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $265,000. Wernau Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 4th quarter valued at $9,497,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.