Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Buys New Stake in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP has acquired a new position in Starbucks Corporation, purchasing 143,866 shares valued at approximately $14.11 million during the first quarter.
• Starbucks reported $0.50 earnings per share for the last quarter, which missed the analysts' consensus estimate of $0.64, despite a revenue of $9.46 billion, above the expected $9.29 billion.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, which will be paid out on August 29th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.6%.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 143,866 shares of the coffee company's stock, valued at approximately $14,112,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Starbucks during the 1st quarter valued at $1,379,619,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Starbucks by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 54,924,230 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $5,011,796,000 after buying an additional 9,174,682 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Starbucks during the 1st quarter valued at $817,759,000. Polen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Starbucks during the 1st quarter valued at $503,539,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Starbucks by 59.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,623,282 shares of the coffee company's stock valued at $943,948,000 after buying an additional 3,589,537 shares during the last quarter. 72.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SBUX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Starbucks from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Starbucks from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Starbucks from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $76.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Starbucks from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $103.65.

Starbucks Price Performance

Starbucks stock traded down $2.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $90.60. The company had a trading volume of 8,054,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,063,601. Starbucks Corporation has a 1 year low of $75.50 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The company has a market capitalization of $102.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $92.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.99.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The coffee company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.14). Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 36.23% and a net margin of 7.18%. The business had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Starbucks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.17%.

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.