Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SYY. Melius Research raised Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sysco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.38.

Sysco Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:SYY opened at $71.20 on Tuesday. Sysco has a 12-month low of $69.03 and a 12-month high of $82.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.95.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Sysco will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $519,920.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,876,080. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,270 shares of company stock worth $6,181,946 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sysco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SYY. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Sysco by 11.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,617,000 after buying an additional 2,721,449 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Sysco during the third quarter valued at approximately $137,900,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,078,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Sysco by 52.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,719,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,666,000 after purchasing an additional 933,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Sysco by 11.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,874,000 after purchasing an additional 672,940 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sysco Company Profile

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.