Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Lowered to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on SYY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

Sysco Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of SYY stock opened at $78.03 on Wednesday. Sysco has a 52-week low of $69.03 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.30. The company has a market capitalization of $38.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.19.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Sysco will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $1,747,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,581 shares in the company, valued at $4,846,480. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 35,279 shares of company stock worth $2,786,971 in the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position 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 valued at $2,130,617,000 after buying an additional 2,721,449 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,180 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,874,000 after purchasing an additional 672,940 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,796,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,410,000 after purchasing an additional 422,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 4,790,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,789,000 after purchasing an additional 375,409 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.