Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Trading 3.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) shares shot up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $72.70 and last traded at $72.58. 1,782,544 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 3,131,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sysco from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

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 capitalization of $35.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.67, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.21.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.44%.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In related news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,335,408. This represents a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Sysco by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,519,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,703,775,000 after buying an additional 429,711 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Sysco by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721,449 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Sysco by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,907,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,751,000 after acquiring an additional 851,441 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Sysco by 143.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Sysco by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,868,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $905,120,000 after purchasing an additional 233,885 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.