Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 195,845 shares of the company’s stock after selling 693 shares during the quarter. Sysco accounts for about 1.6% of Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $14,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 143.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,754 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sysco in the fourth quarter worth $450,441,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Sysco by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928,002 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $123,928,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Sysco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $97,078,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE SYY opened at $72.93 on Thursday. Sysco Co. has a 12 month low of $67.12 and a 12 month high of $82.23. The company has a market capitalization of $35.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This is an increase from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Sysco’s payout ratio is presently 55.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 target price on shares of Sysco and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Sysco from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.00.

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.