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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Melius Research raised Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Melius started coverage on Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.21.

Sysco Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SYY opened at $71.96 on Monday. Sysco has a 1-year low of $69.03 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $76.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.03. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $35.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.18.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Sysco will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,747,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,846,480. The trade was a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050 in the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SYY. Fortem Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Sysco by 3.1% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its stake in Sysco by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.