Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Raises Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 34.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,729 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,188 shares during the quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $7,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 265,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,332,000 after acquiring an additional 80,075 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sysco by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Sysco by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 4,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Sysco by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,434,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,705,000 after purchasing an additional 452,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Sysco by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 42,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 4,682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SYY shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 target price on Sysco and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.38.

Sysco Price Performance

SYY stock opened at $72.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. Sysco Co. has a 52-week low of $67.12 and a 52-week high of $82.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.04.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.06). Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. The business had revenue of $19.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This is a boost from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 55.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.84, for a total value of $25,219.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $902,359.92. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.