SFE Investment Counsel Cuts Stock Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

SFE Investment Counsel trimmed its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 54.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,699 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Sysco were worth $489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SYY. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in Sysco during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in Sysco in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Melius Research raised Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sysco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.38.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $3,698,079.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,335,408. The trade was a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,876,080. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 79,270 shares of company stock worth $6,181,946. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sysco Stock Down 0.5 %

SYY stock opened at $70.16 on Thursday. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year high of $82.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $75.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

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.