M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Takes Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 6,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Sysco by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721,449 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Sysco by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,180 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 672,940 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in Sysco by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,796,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,410,000 after purchasing an additional 422,954 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Sysco by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 4,790,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,789,000 after purchasing an additional 375,409 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $3,698,079.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 83,306 shares of company stock valued at $6,485,050. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Melius began coverage on Sysco in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.93.

Sysco Stock Performance

NYSE SYY opened at $73.02 on Monday. Sysco Co. has a 1-year low of $69.03 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $76.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

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.