Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Sold by Associated Banc Corp

Associated Banc Corp decreased its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 264,549 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,473 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp owned about 0.05% of Sysco worth $20,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Sysco by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Sysco by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 7,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sysco by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Sysco from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sysco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.77.

Sysco Price Performance

SYY stock opened at $73.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $3,698,079.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,335,408. The trade was a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.