Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SYY. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Melius Research raised Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Melius started coverage on shares of Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.79.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SYY opened at $76.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $76.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.99. Sysco has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its 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). Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sysco will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In related news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,747,520.00. Following the sale, 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 this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sysco

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SYY. National Pension Service grew its position in Sysco by 15.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,237,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,562,000 after buying an additional 166,798 shares during the period. New England Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sysco by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,254,000 after acquiring an additional 14,810 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Sysco by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 78,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after acquiring an additional 17,587 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sysco by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,874,000 after purchasing an additional 672,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Sysco by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 124,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,706,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.