Retirement Systems of Alabama Decreases Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,868 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,982 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Sysco were worth $8,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in Sysco by 1,240.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sysco during the third quarter worth $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Sysco in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on SYY. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY opened at $78.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.19. Sysco Co. has a 1-year low of $69.03 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $76.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.30.

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

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,279 shares of company stock valued at $2,786,971 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.