Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,101 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Sysco by 11.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,859,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076,287 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 1.8% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,909,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,254,000 after buying an additional 161,756 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position 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 valued at $532,666,000 after buying an additional 6,957,665 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Sysco by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,819,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,318,000 after buying an additional 310,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in Sysco by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,459,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,666,008 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Sysco stock opened at $76.73 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00. The firm has a market cap of $38.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.15. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $62.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $79.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.45.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Sysco had a return on equity of 105.22% and a net margin of 2.69%. The business had revenue of $19.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 48.90%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Stephens boosted their price objective on Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.38.

Sysco Company Profile

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.