Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Melius assumed coverage on Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.77.

Sysco Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of SYY opened at $76.53 on Wednesday. Sysco has a 12-month low of $69.03 and a 12-month 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $73.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.62.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Sysco will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sysco by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,519,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,703,775,000 after buying an additional 429,711 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Sysco by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,617,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721,449 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sysco by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,907,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,292,751,000 after acquiring an additional 851,441 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Sysco by 143.7% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,296,000 after acquiring an additional 7,184,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sysco by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,868,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $905,120,000 after acquiring an additional 233,885 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% 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.