Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Cuts Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 158,232 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,793 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $11,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Trian Fund Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Sysco during the third quarter worth about $80,812,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 11.0% during 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 period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sysco by 1,591.5% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 764,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,462,000 after buying an additional 719,054 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sysco by 3,671.0% during the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 470,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,102,000 after purchasing an additional 458,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL acquired a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at $32,976,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of SYY traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.17. The company had a trading volume of 172,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,890,454. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.55. The company has a market capitalization of $38.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.37. Sysco Co. has a 1-year low of $62.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89.

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

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Sysco’s payout ratio is 48.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Sysco 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.