Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.56.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Sysco from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Sysco from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in Sysco by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC raised its position in Sysco by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 8,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its position in Sysco by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Sysco by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in Sysco by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 2,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Trading Up 1.5 %

Sysco stock opened at $75.36 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77. Sysco has a 12 month low of $62.24 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $37.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.16.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $19.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.74 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.66% and a return on equity of 99.88%. Sysco’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. This is a positive change from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.78%.

About Sysco

Sysco Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the marketing and distribution of various food and related products to the foodservice or food-away-from-home industry in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and internationally. It operates through U.S. Foodservice Operations, International Foodservice Operations, SYGMA, and Other segments.