StockNews.com Downgrades Sysco (NYSE:SYY) to Buy

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on SYY. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.38.

Sysco Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE SYY traded up $0.84 on Tuesday, hitting $74.49. 4,436,632 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,758,489. The company has a market capitalization of $36.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.78 and a 200 day moving average of $75.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. Sysco has a twelve month low of $69.03 and a twelve month high of $82.33.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 106.30%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Sysco will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Sysco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Sysco by 143.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,296,000 after acquiring an additional 7,184,754 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $450,441,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Sysco by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721,449 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $687,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the third quarter worth $137,900,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

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.