Liberty One Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 326,240 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,043 shares during the quarter. Sysco makes up approximately 2.7% of Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $24,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in Sysco by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721,449 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Sysco by 26.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,076,000 after buying an additional 1,782,180 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $521,874,000 after buying an additional 672,940 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Sysco by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,796,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,410,000 after buying an additional 422,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in Sysco by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 4,790,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,789,000 after acquiring an additional 375,409 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on SYY shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com raised Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Melius began coverage on shares of Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.93.

Sysco Stock Performance

NYSE:SYY opened at $73.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $35.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $76.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.77. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Sysco

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Company 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.