Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Rating Increased to Hold at Melius Research

Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Melius began coverage on Sysco in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.93.

Sysco Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of SYY stock opened at $76.97 on Wednesday. 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 market capitalization of $37.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.19. Sysco has a 52-week low of $69.03 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.35.

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). The business had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Sysco will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

In related news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This represents a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,279 shares of company stock valued at $2,786,971. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SYY. National Pension Service raised its stake in Sysco by 15.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,237,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,562,000 after purchasing an additional 166,798 shares in the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,254,000 after buying an additional 14,810 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Sysco by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 78,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after buying an additional 17,587 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Sysco by 11.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,874,000 after acquiring an additional 672,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Sysco by 7.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 124,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,706,000 after acquiring an additional 8,891 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.