John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Increases Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 70,592 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $5,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in Sysco by 1,240.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Sysco during the third quarter worth $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Sysco in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SYY opened at $73.63 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.20. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $69.03 and a 12 month high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The business had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.44%.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total value of $303,103.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.