Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 33.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,238 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,620 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $721,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 112.8% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,612,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,770,000 after buying an additional 3,504,740 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 103.0% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,746,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,830,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408,226 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the first quarter worth $178,824,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sysco by 49.8% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,012,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,997,895 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Sysco by 26.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SYY opened at $74.95 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.74. The company has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. Sysco’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Sysco news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total value of $303,103.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,638,670.10. This represents a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.