Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays decreased their target price on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Melius Research raised Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.38.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of Sysco stock opened at $71.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $34.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.21 and its 200 day moving average is $76.00. Sysco has a 1 year low of $69.03 and a 1 year high of $82.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. Sysco had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 106.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sysco will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,831.65. This represents a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 79,270 shares of company stock valued at $6,181,946. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Sysco by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721,449 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sysco by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,874,000 after purchasing an additional 672,940 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in Sysco by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,796,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,410,000 after purchasing an additional 422,954 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Sysco by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 4,790,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,789,000 after purchasing an additional 375,409 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Sysco by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,265,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,983,000 after purchasing an additional 168,163 shares during the period. 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.