Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Upgraded by Melius Research to Hold Rating

Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on SYY. Melius initiated coverage on Sysco in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.93.

Sysco Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SYY opened at $76.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $76.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.19. Sysco has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year 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 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 company had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sysco will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,747,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,846,480. The trade was a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,638,670.10. This represents a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,279 shares of company stock worth $2,786,971 over the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sysco by 3.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 608,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,471,000 after purchasing an additional 22,513 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Sysco during the third quarter worth about $480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sysco by 14.7% in the third 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 lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 5.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Sysco by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 4,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.