Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 39.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 300,746 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,798 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Sysco worth $21,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Sysco by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 8,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in Sysco by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 2,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Sysco by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC raised its stake in Sysco by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 14,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA raised its stake in Sysco by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 30,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,457,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SYY. UBS Group cut their price target on Sysco from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.90.

Sysco Stock Down 1.7 %

SYY stock opened at $73.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $36.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $78.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.09. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $62.24 and a one year high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.74 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.66% and a return on equity of 99.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This is a positive change from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Sysco’s payout ratio is presently 48.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other Sysco 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 value of $137,760.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.