Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on SYY. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.77.

Sysco Stock Down 0.8 %

SYY stock opened at $79.71 on Tuesday. Sysco has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.24 and a 200-day moving average of $75.09. The company has a market capitalization of $39.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sysco will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,279 shares of company stock valued at $2,786,971. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Sysco by 11.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721,449 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Sysco by 103.0% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,746,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,830,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408,226 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 49.8% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,012,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,240,000 after buying an additional 1,997,895 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Sysco by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,076,000 after buying an additional 1,782,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in Sysco during the third quarter valued at $137,900,000. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

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.