Invesco Ltd. Increases Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,907,541 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 851,441 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,292,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,590,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,342,000 after purchasing an additional 60,059 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA raised its position in shares of Sysco by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 9,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 225,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,259,000 after purchasing an additional 35,045 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 271,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,793,000 after purchasing an additional 28,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 8,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 2,279 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sysco Trading Down 5.3 %

SYY opened at $71.41 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $34.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.91. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $68.81 and a twelve month high of $82.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $73.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.04. 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 (NYSE:SYY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid 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 presently 52.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Melius assumed coverage on Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.77.

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.