Eastern Bank Increases Stock Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Eastern Bank boosted its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 219,181 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,347 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Sysco were worth $17,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SYY. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.6% during the second quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 22,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Sysco by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $679,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sysco by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 4,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, Winthrop Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sysco Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:SYY traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $74.60. 735,748 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,148,343. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.28 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.20.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $20.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.51 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 102.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Sysco’s payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on SYY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.08.

Sysco 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.