Simon Quick Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 30.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,055 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sysco by 1,240.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in Sysco in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Sysco during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Melius began coverage on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Sysco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total value of $303,103.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,638,670.10. This represents a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sysco Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Sysco stock opened at $73.71 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.88. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $69.03 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38. The company has a market cap of $36.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.18.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. Sysco’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

About Sysco

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.