Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

SYY has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Sysco from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $87.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $86.08.

Sysco Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE SYY opened at $75.41 on Wednesday. Sysco has a 12 month low of $62.24 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $76.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.31. The stock has a market cap of $37.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $20.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.51 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 102.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Sysco will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 49.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter valued at $683,599,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 112.8% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,612,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,770,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504,740 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 103.0% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,746,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,830,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408,226 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the first quarter worth about $178,824,000. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Sysco by 49.8% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,012,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,240,000 after buying an additional 1,997,895 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

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.