Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sysco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.93.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of SYY stock opened at $77.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.32. Sysco has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sysco will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,831.65. This represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,279 shares of company stock worth $2,786,971 in the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Sysco during the third quarter worth about $480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Sysco by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 572,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,038,000 after purchasing an additional 73,306 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its holdings in Sysco by 5.8% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 190,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,886,000 after buying an additional 10,519 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Sysco by 14.7% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 4,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Sysco by 51.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 37,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 12,550 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.