Sysco Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.51 (NYSE:SYY)

Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of 0.51 per share on Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%.

Sysco has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 56 years. Sysco has a dividend payout ratio of 41.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Sysco to earn $4.94 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.3%.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY traded up $0.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $74.68. The company had a trading volume of 2,390,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,697,900. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.65. 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 has a 12 month low of $69.03 and a 12 month high of $82.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sysco will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SYY. StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their target price on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $1,747,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,846,480. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $519,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,876,080. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,370 shares of company stock worth $5,965,519 over the last ninety days. 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.