HM Payson & Co. Increases Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

HM Payson & Co. grew its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 12.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,130 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,225 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SYY. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 74.0% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in Sysco in the fourth quarter worth about $936,000. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Sysco by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 3,426 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC raised its position in Sysco by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 4,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Sysco by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 314,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,983,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Price Performance

NYSE:SYY traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $76.71. 3,313,141 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,000,702. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $72.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.09. The company has a market cap of $38.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.18. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $62.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 102.09%. The company had revenue of $20.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Sysco’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYY has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lifted 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 Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Sysco from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Two investment 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.27.

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.