Greenleaf Trust Trims Position in Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY)

Greenleaf Trust reduced its holdings in Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 17,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,299 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 143.7% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,296,000 after buying an additional 7,184,754 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sysco during the fourth quarter worth about $450,441,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Sysco by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $687,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928,002 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new position in Sysco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,928,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in Sysco by 29,610.4% in the 1st quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,431,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Trading Up 1.5%

SYY stock opened at $77.47 on Friday. Sysco Corporation has a 12-month low of $67.12 and a 12-month high of $82.23. The business’s 50-day moving average is $73.77 and its 200 day moving average is $73.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.37. The stock has a market cap of $37.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.81.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.06). Sysco had a return on equity of 107.96% and a net margin of 2.36%. The firm had revenue of $19.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sysco Corporation will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is a positive change from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.96%.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.84, for a total transaction of $25,219.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $902,359.92. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SYY. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Sysco in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 price target on Sysco and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.77.

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.