Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.93.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Melius started coverage on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th.

Sysco Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SYY stock opened at $75.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $77.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.67. Sysco has a 12-month low of $69.03 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.18. 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 posted its 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). Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Sysco will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $966,831.65. This represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,306 shares of company stock valued at $6,485,050 over the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SYY. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 11.1% during 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 last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Sysco by 26.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,180 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 11.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,874,000 after buying an additional 672,940 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,796,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,410,000 after buying an additional 422,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 375,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

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.