Starbucks Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.61 (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 11th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of 0.61 per share by the coffee company on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%.

Starbucks has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Starbucks has a payout ratio of 77.5% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Research analysts expect Starbucks to earn $3.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.9%.

Starbucks Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:SBUX traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.42. 8,004,450 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,844,501. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $98.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.19. The firm has a market cap of $111.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.97. Starbucks has a one year low of $71.55 and a one year high of $103.32.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The coffee company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. The company had revenue of $9.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.60 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 10.40% and a negative return on equity of 46.39%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Starbucks will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,491 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.54, for a total value of $148,414.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,975,542.96. This represents a 1.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SBUX. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Starbucks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Starbucks from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $80.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $92.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Starbucks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $81.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.77.

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.