SFE Investment Counsel Trims Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

SFE Investment Counsel lowered its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 54.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,699 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Sysco were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco during the third quarter worth $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in Sysco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Sysco during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Sysco in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Sysco stock opened at $70.16 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.88. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $69.03 and a 12-month high of $82.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. The stock has a market cap of $34.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This represents a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $519,920.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,876,080. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 79,270 shares of company stock worth $6,181,946. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.38.

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.