Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Raised to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

SYY has been the subject of several other research reports. Melius Research raised shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.77.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of SYY opened at $74.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $36.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.63. Sysco has a 1-year low of $69.03 and a 1-year high of $82.33.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sysco will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Boston Partners raised its position in Sysco by 143.7% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,296,000 after buying an additional 7,184,754 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter worth about $450,441,000. State Street Corp boosted 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. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Sysco by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the third quarter worth approximately $137,900,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.