Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

SYY has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays cut their price target on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sysco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SYY opened at $74.68 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.64. The company has a market capitalization of $36.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. Sysco has a 1 year low of $69.03 and a 1 year high of $82.33. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 business earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Sysco will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 2.73%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $519,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,876,080. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,747,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,846,480. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,370 shares of company stock valued at $5,965,519 in the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. National Pension Service raised its holdings in Sysco by 15.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,237,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,562,000 after purchasing an additional 166,798 shares during the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Sysco by 12.7% in the third quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,254,000 after buying an additional 14,810 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 78,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,115,000 after buying an additional 17,587 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sysco by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,874,000 after buying an additional 672,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Sysco by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 124,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,706,000 after acquiring an additional 8,891 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.