Royal Fund Management LLC Cuts Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Royal Fund Management LLC reduced its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 45.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 38,945 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,333 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $3,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Sysco by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Sysco by 3.1% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its position in Sysco by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group lifted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 17,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In related news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $519,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,876,080. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,306 shares of company stock valued at $6,485,050. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Down 0.3 %

SYY opened at $73.02 on Tuesday. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two 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 stock has a market cap of $35.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $76.72 and its 200 day moving average is $75.85.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The business had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Melius Research raised Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Melius started coverage on Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.93.

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.