M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Takes Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 6,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Sysco by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,617,000 after buying an additional 2,721,449 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Sysco by 26.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,180 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Sysco by 11.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,874,000 after purchasing an additional 672,940 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Sysco by 9.7% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,796,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,410,000 after purchasing an additional 422,954 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its stake in Sysco by 8.5% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 4,790,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,789,000 after purchasing an additional 375,409 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Melius began coverage on Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.93.

Sysco Trading Down 0.3 %

Sysco stock opened at $73.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38. Sysco Co. has a 52 week low of $69.03 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.81.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $519,920.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,876,080. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently 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.