PFG Investments LLC Reduces Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

PFG Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,078 shares of the company’s stock after selling 340 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 419 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Sysco during the first quarter worth $32,000. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sysco in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sysco during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SYY. StockNews.com cut shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sysco Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:SYY opened at $81.94 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $62.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The firm has a market cap of $40.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.16.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. The firm had revenue of $19.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.90%.

Sysco 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.