Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 643,784 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 71,626 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Sysco worth $49,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Sysco by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 14,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 7,806 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its holdings in Sysco by 49.8% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 16,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 2,124 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter valued at $390,000. Finally, Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,156,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sysco Trading Down 5.3 %

NYSE:SYY opened at $71.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $69.03 and a 1 year high of $82.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 106.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.77.

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.