Activists prompt CEO change

Article Excerpt

STARBUCKS CORP. $98 is a buy. The coffee chain giant (Nasdaq symbol SBUX; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $107.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.starbucks.com) is down from its 2021 peak of $121 due to slowing demand for premium-priced coffees in the U.S. and China. Protests over the conflict in the Middle East have also hurt sales in that region. The company’s recent problems attracted two activist investors, Elliott Management and Starboard Value. Partly due to their pressure, in September, Starbucks replaced Laxman Narasimhan as its chief executive officer with Brian Niccol, the former CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (New York symbol CMG). The new CEO is still formulating a detailed turnaround plan, which will probably include simplifying menus and speeding up customer service. Starbucks is also raising your quarterly dividend by 7.0% with the November 2024 payment, to $0.61 a share from $0.57. The new annual rate of $2.44 yields 2.5%. Starbucks…