UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Stock

Key Points

• UBS raised its Starbucks price target from $105 to $110 but kept a neutral rating; the new target implies about 4.35% upside from the stock’s then-current price.
• Analyst sentiment overall remains cautious: MarketBeat’s consensus rating is “Hold,” with a $108.89 average price target.
• Starbucks beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.80 per share versus $0.72 expected, but revenue fell short of estimates and declined 4.5% year over year.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $105.00 to $110.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the coffee company's stock. UBS Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.35% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on SBUX. Needham & Company LLC set a $120.00 target price on Starbucks in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on Starbucks from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, October 30th. CICC Research lifted their target price on Starbucks from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Starbucks from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.89.

Starbucks Price Performance

Starbucks stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $105.41. 7,780,544 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,180,078. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.99. Starbucks has a fifty-two week low of $81.76 and a fifty-two week high of $111.50. The stock has a market cap of $120.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.01.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The coffee company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $9.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Starbucks had a net margin of 6.66% and a negative return on equity of 38.61%. The company's revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Starbucks will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brady Brewer sold 2,229 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.60, for a total transaction of $235,382.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 73,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,724,534.40. This represents a 2.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,458 shares of company stock valued at $449,684. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starbucks

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Starbucks by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 223,190 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $22,808,000 after buying an additional 5,937 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,779,234 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $1,200,737,000 after purchasing an additional 193,849 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 906,298 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $85,324,000 after buying an additional 15,014 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in Starbucks by 2.5% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 49,451 shares of the coffee company's stock worth $4,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bingham Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Starbucks by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bingham Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Starbucks Company Profile

Starbucks Corporation is a global coffee company that roasts, markets and sells coffee and other beverages, along with food and related merchandise. Its offerings include brewed coffee, espresso-based drinks, teas and packaged coffee products.

The company serves customers through company-operated and licensed stores, as well as through retail and food-service partnerships. Its stores also sell items such as mugs and coffee-making equipment.

Founded in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks operates in North America and international markets, including China.

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