Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Bought by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,310 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sysco by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,038,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,335,000 after acquiring an additional 91,828 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Sysco by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 20,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sysco by 46.1% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after buying an additional 4,866 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Sysco by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 11,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SYY. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Melius Research raised shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of SYY stock opened at $74.48 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $36.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.62. Sysco Co. has a 52 week low of $69.03 and a 52 week high of $82.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,335,408. This represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.