World Investment Advisors Buys 18,320 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

World Investment Advisors lifted its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 234.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,131 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,320 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Sysco were worth $1,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SYY. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Sysco by 143.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sysco during the 4th quarter valued at about $450,441,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sysco by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721,449 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $123,928,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $97,078,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of SYY opened at $71.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.06. Sysco Co. has a 1-year low of $69.03 and a 1-year high of $82.23. The company has a market cap of $34.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 106.30%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SYY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Melius initiated coverage on Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.77.

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.