Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,783 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,786 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $3,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SYY. Brinker Capital Investments LLC raised its holdings in Sysco by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 3,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 2,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Geller Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sysco by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 3,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Sysco by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Sysco by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 8,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Up 1.4 %

SYY opened at $76.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.39. Sysco Co. has a 52 week low of $62.24 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $38.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 48.90%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.