Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. cut its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,134 shares of the company’s stock after selling 441 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $3,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trian Fund Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,812,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 11.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,859,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076,287 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sysco by 1,591.5% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 764,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,462,000 after acquiring an additional 719,054 shares during the last quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 3,671.0% in the 3rd quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 470,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,102,000 after acquiring an additional 458,401 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL purchased a new stake in Sysco in the 4th quarter valued at $32,976,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $77.07. 2,295,710 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,894,744. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $38.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.15. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $62.24 and a 1 year high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. The firm had revenue of $19.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,082 shares in the company, valued at $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stephens lifted their target price on Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.38.

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.