Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Raises Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,246 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sysco by 70,686.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,967,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $532,666,000 after buying an additional 6,957,665 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $397,373,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Sysco by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,459,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,859,000 after buying an additional 1,666,008 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Sysco in the second quarter valued at approximately $107,472,000. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Sysco by 7,204.3% in the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,293,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,381,000 after buying an additional 1,276,096 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on SYY. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares in the company, valued at $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Price Performance

SYY opened at $76.74 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00. Sysco Co. has a 52-week low of $62.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $80.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.82. The company has a market cap of $38.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.15.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. The company had revenue of $19.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Sysco’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.90%.

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.