Profit gains support SBUX payout

Article Excerpt

STARBUCKS CORP. $92 is a buy for aggressive investors. The company (Nasdaq symbol SBUX; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.15 billion; Market cap: $105.8 billion; Dividend yield: 2.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.starbucks.comwww.starbucks.com) is a leading seller and roaster of specialty coffee. It has over 37,000 outlets in more than 85 countries. Starbucks has increased its annual dividend rate each year since it began paying dividends in 2010. It last raised the quarterly payment in November 2023 by 7.5%, to $0.57 a share from $0.53. The new annual rate of $2.28 yields 2.5%. In its fiscal 2023 fourth quarter, ended October 1, 2023, sales rose 11.4%, to $9.37 billion from $8.41 billion a year earlier. On a same-store basis, sales increased 8%. That reflects a 4% gain in the average purchase size per visit, plus a 3% rise in the number of transactions. Earnings per share, excluding unusual items, jumped 39.5%, to $1.06 from $0.76. Starbucks is a buy. buy. …