Tufton Capital Management Cuts Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Tufton Capital Management reduced its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,731 shares of the company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sysco by 70,686.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,967,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $532,666,000 after buying an additional 6,957,665 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $397,373,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Sysco by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,459,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,859,000 after buying an additional 1,666,008 shares during the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Sysco by 7,204.3% in the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,293,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,381,000 after buying an additional 1,276,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trian Fund Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $80,812,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Barclays raised their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Stephens raised 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.38.

Sysco Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:SYY traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $75.80. 477,894 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,912,635. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.15. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $62.24 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $19.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.32 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 105.22% and a net margin of 2.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.90%.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

In other Sysco news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.58% 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.