StockNews.com Downgrades Sysco (NYSE:SYY) to Buy

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on SYY. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE SYY traded down $1.27 on Thursday, hitting $71.12. 5,122,399 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,123,286. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.15 and a 200 day moving average of $75.41. Sysco has a twelve month low of $69.03 and a twelve month high of $82.33. The company has a market capitalization of $34.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Sysco will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Sysco by 143.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,754 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sysco in the fourth quarter valued at $450,441,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Sysco by 11.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721,449 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Sysco by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Sysco during the third quarter valued at $137,900,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.