NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Starbucks (SBUX) announced today that it will expand workers' health-insurance options in order to become a more attractive workplace for potential employees, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Before today's announcement, the coffeehouse workers could choose from one health insurer and three medical coverage levels, the Journal noted.
But starting October 1, workers will be able to choose from up to six national and regional carriers and five levels of medical plans on a private exchange. Starbucks will have an online marketplace where workers can select a preferred health plan.
This is Starbucks' latest move to counteract the decreasing labor market for retailers, as well as a number of state and local wage increases, the Journal said. Last week, the company announced a 5% wage raise for all U.S. store employees beginning October 3.
Starbucks is a Seattle-based coffee company.
The stock closed down on Monday by 0.85% to $56.92.
(Starbucks is held in Jim Cramer's charitable trust Action Alerts PLUS. See all of his holding with a free trial here.)
Separately, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author. TheStreet Ratings has this to say about the recommendation:
We rate STARBUCKS CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of B. This is driven by a few notable strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its growth in earnings per share, revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, notable return on equity and increase in net income. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company is trading at a premium valuation based on our review of its current price compared to such things as earnings and book value.
