Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Acquired by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 175,938 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,372 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $12,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Brinker Capital Investments LLC grew its stake in Sysco by 3.2% during the first quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 3,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in Sysco by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 2,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Geller Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sysco by 4.2% during the first quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 3,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Sysco by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Sysco by 1.7% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 8,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on SYY. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sysco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Sysco Trading Down 1.7 %

SYY opened at $75.25 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $79.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $62.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $19.32 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 2.66%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.90%.

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.