Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $85.77.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SYY shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Sysco Price Performance

NYSE SYY opened at $79.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $76.40 and its 200 day moving average is $75.21. The company has a market capitalization of $39.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.19. Sysco has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. Sysco’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Sysco will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.44%.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 60,581 shares in the company, valued at $4,846,480. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $216,427.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,279 shares of company stock valued at $2,786,971. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sysco

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Sysco in the third quarter worth about $480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 572,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,038,000 after acquiring an additional 73,306 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its position in Sysco by 5.8% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 190,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,886,000 after acquiring an additional 10,519 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Sysco by 14.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 4,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Sysco by 51.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 37,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 12,550 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently 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.