Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX): Looking at the Levels

Stock market investors may be closely tracking recent trends. Many investors will keep an eye on where a certain stock has been when trying to project where it is headed. Tracking recent action for Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), we have seen shares trading close to the 76.15 mark. Taking a wider look back, shares have seen a change of 8.38% over the last 12 weeks. Heading back to the start of the year, we can see that shares have changed 18.25%. Over the past month, shares have seen a change of -1.24%. Over the last week, the stock has moved -3.49%. Taking a look at some popular possible support and resistance levels, we note that the 52-week high is currently 78.91, and the 52-week low is presently 48.54. When a stock price is trading close to the 52-week high or 52-week low, investors may closely track activity to watch for a move through the level.

New investors may be trying to figure out the best way to build a solid foundation with which to make future investing decisions. There are many different paths that an investor can take once they become familiar with the territory. Some investors will choose to study professional analyst research and recommendations. This can be very useful, but many investors may feel more comfortable doing their own research. Conducting stock research may involve looking at the fundamentals of a certain company. Understanding what kind of competitive advantage a company might have compared to others in their industry may help weed out some of the more undesirable stocks. Because there is no one way to properly conduct stock research, investors may need to try a few different methods in order to determine the best individual course of action.

Shifting the focus to some earnings data, we have noted that the current quarter EPS consensus estimate for Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) is 0.73. This EPS estimate consists of 13 Wall Street analysts taken into consideration by Zacks Research. For the previous reporting period, the company posted a quarterly EPS of 0.6. Sell-side analysts often provide their best researched estimates at what the company will report. These estimates hold a lot of weight on Wall Street and the investing community. Sometimes these analyst projections are spot on, and other times they are off. When a company reports actual earnings results, the surprise factor can cause a stock price to fluctuate. Investors will often pay added attention to a company that has beaten estimates by a large margin.

Looking at some analyst views on shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), we note that the consensus target price is resting at $74.67. This is the consensus target using estimates provided by the covering analysts polled. Sell-side analysts often produce target estimates for the companies that they track closely. Price target estimates can be calculated using various methods, and this may cause some analyst estimates to be drastically different than others. Many investors will track stock target prices, especially when analysts update the target price projections.

Investors might be paying attention to what Wall Street analysts think about shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX). Taking a peek at the current consensus broker rating, we can see that the ABR is 2.04. This average rating is provided by Zacks Research. This simplified numeric scale spans the range of one to five which translates brokerage firm Buy/Sell/Hold recommendations into an average broker rating. A low number in the 1-2 range typically indicates a Buy, 3 indicates a Hold and 4-5 represents a consensus Sell rating. In terms of the number of analysts that have the stock rated as a Buy or Strong Buy, we can see that the number is currently 11.

Diversification can be an important aspect of any investor’s portfolio. Investors may choose to spread out stock holdings between foreign stocks and stocks with different market capitalizations. Investors may have to first become aware of the risk associated with owning a wide variety of stocks. Owning stocks that belong to different industries may also be a help to the success of the portfolio. Often times, sectors may trade off being market leaders. Owning all one sector may leave too much risk exposed if the sector suddenly tanks and falls out of favor with investors. Investors may need to occasionally do a strategic review of the equity portion of the portfolio. Knowing exactly what is held may help the investor when the time comes to make some adjustments.