Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Boosts Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,790,665 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 375,409 shares during the period. Sysco accounts for approximately 3.9% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. owned about 0.98% of Sysco worth $366,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sysco by 1,240.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Sysco in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SYY. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sysco Stock Performance

Sysco stock opened at $75.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Sysco Co. has a 1-year low of $69.03 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $75.69 and its 200 day moving average is $74.74.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors 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 yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.