Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Short Interest Update

Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) was the target of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,890,000 shares, a drop of 15.6% from the September 30th total of 16,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SYY. Bank of America cut their price target on Sysco from $91.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com lowered Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Sysco from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sysco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.08.

Sysco Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of SYY stock traded up $1.06 on Monday, reaching $74.98. 258,141 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,134,146. Sysco has a 52 week low of $64.28 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.77.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $20.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.51 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 102.09% and a net margin of 2.48%. Sysco’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Sysco will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 22,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Sysco by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Sysco by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in Sysco by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 4,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Sysco by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.