Brokerages Set Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Target Price at $84.77

Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.77.

SYY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were 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 directly owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sysco

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Sherman Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sysco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sysco by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 430 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of SYY stock opened at $73.99 on Friday. Sysco has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year high of $82.23. The company has a market cap of $36.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.97 and a 200-day moving average of $75.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

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

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.44%.

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.