Saratoga Research & Investment Management Sells 308 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Saratoga Research & Investment Management reduced its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,383 shares of the company’s stock after selling 308 shares during the period. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 74.0% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 374 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SYY. Guggenheim raised shares of Sysco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Sysco from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Sysco from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Sysco from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.90.

Sysco Stock Performance

Sysco stock traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.39. 15,189,200 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,513,296. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $62.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $35.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $73.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.40.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.74 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.66% and a return on equity of 99.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is a positive change from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.