Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Has $67.89 Million Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 887,855 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114,804 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Sysco were worth $67,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its position in Sysco by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Sysco by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group increased its position in shares of Sysco by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 17,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sysco Stock Performance

Sysco stock opened at $73.47 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $76.62 and a 200-day moving average of $75.87. The company has a market capitalization of $36.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.18. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $69.03 and a 1 year high of $82.89. 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 (NYSE:SYY) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $216,427.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 83,306 shares of company stock valued at $6,485,050. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 raised Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sysco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.79.

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.