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 Monday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Melius began coverage on Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.93.

Sysco Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE SYY opened at $74.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $36.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18. Sysco has a 1-year low of $69.03 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $76.94 and a 200-day moving average of $75.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $519,920.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,876,080. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. National Pension Service lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 166,798 shares in the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $10,254,000 after purchasing an additional 14,810 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 17,587 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 672,940 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake 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 buying an additional 8,891 shares in the last quarter. 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.