Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.93.

Several research firms have recently commented on SYY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Melius assumed coverage on Sysco in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of Sysco stock opened at $74.80 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Sysco has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. Sysco’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sysco will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,846,480. This trade represents a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total value of $303,103.60. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sysco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SYY. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sysco by 1,240.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco in the third quarter worth $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Sysco during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by 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.