West Tower Group LLC Takes Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

West Tower Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SYY. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the first quarter valued at $658,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Sysco by 1.3% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 847,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,781,000 after purchasing an additional 11,244 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sysco by 39.2% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sysco by 72.1% in the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,687,000 after purchasing an additional 13,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Sysco by 15,811.1% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 10,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $814,000 after purchasing an additional 9,961 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other Sysco news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total value of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This represents a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sysco Stock Up 1.5 %

SYY opened at $76.89 on Tuesday. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $69.03 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.75. The company has a market cap of $37.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.20.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SYY. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.77.

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.