Forsta AP Fonden Trims Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Forsta AP Fonden decreased its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 8.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 185,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,900 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Sysco were worth $13,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,984,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $891,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637,232 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 112.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,612,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,770,000 after acquiring an additional 3,504,740 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $450,794,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 132.9% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,653,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084,501 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Management Inc. WI grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 92.1% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 2,619,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,596,000 after buying an additional 1,255,908 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SYY. Barclays upped their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America cut their price target on Sysco from $91.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Sysco from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.27.

Sysco Stock Performance

SYY stock opened at $76.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $62.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $20.56 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 49.76%.

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.