Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 281 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,526 shares of the company’s stock after selling 281 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Sysco were worth $2,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Sysco by 3,159.0% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 6,855 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter worth about $841,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $916,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 597,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,674,000 after purchasing an additional 62,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 102.1% in the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 139,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,355,000 after purchasing an additional 70,660 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on SYY shares. StockNews.com raised Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Sysco from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Sysco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.55.

Sysco Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE SYY opened at $75.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $62.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $75.87 and its 200-day moving average is $75.57. The stock has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.20.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $20.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.51 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 102.09% and a net margin of 2.48%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 49.76%.

Sysco 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.