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

Tufton Capital Management lowered its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,731 shares of the company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SYY. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in shares of Sysco by 74.0% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sysco by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Sysco Price Performance

SYY traded up $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $75.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 477,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,912,635. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.23. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $62.24 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The company has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.15.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Sysco’s payout ratio is 48.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

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

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.