Verity & Verity LLC Grows Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,627 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 1,240.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Sysco during the third quarter worth $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in Sysco during the third quarter worth $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in Sysco during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Sysco in the second quarter valued at $38,000. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Melius started coverage on Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. 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 report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.93.

Sysco Price Performance

SYY stock opened at $73.02 on Friday. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $69.03 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.75.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,306 shares of company stock valued at $6,485,050 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.