Harrington Investments INC Increases Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Harrington Investments INC grew its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,504 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Harrington Investments INC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in Sysco by 19,865.5% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 635,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,560,000 after acquiring an additional 631,921 shares in the last quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sysco by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in Sysco by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 19,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares in the last quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sysco by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 22,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 2,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,206,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,046,000 after purchasing an additional 521,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,335,408. The trade was a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYY has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Up 1.0 %

SYY opened at $73.35 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.52. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $69.03 and a twelve month high of $82.33. The firm has a market cap of $35.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Sysco 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.