Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Trims Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. decreased its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 194,126 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,196 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $15,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sysco in the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP grew its stake in Sysco by 12.9% during the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 18,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,527,000 after buying an additional 2,143 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Sysco in the 1st quarter valued at $658,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 847,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,781,000 after buying an additional 11,244 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of SYY opened at $75.79 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $37.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day moving average is $75.69 and its 200-day moving average is $74.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38. Sysco Co. has a 12 month low of $69.03 and a 12 month high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The company had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. Sysco’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on SYY. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at $966,831.65. This represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. The trade was a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.