Tufton Capital Management Decreases Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Tufton Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,432 shares of the company’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Sysco by 107.4% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYY has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.77.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,335,408. The trade was a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,876,080. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 76,370 shares of company stock worth $5,965,519. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sysco Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE SYY opened at $74.68 on Friday. Sysco Co. has a 12 month low of $69.03 and a 12 month high of $82.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.69 and a 200-day moving average of $75.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $36.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 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.