Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 440,979 shares of the company’s stock after selling 696 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $33,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 143.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,754 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sysco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $450,441,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Sysco by 11.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,617,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721,449 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter worth about $123,928,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,078,000. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SYY shares. Melius Research raised shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Melius assumed coverage on Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sysco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.77.

Sysco Price Performance

NYSE SYY opened at $74.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.20. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $69.03 and a twelve month high of $82.23.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.44%.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

In related news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,335,408. The trade was a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.