Brandes Investment Partners LP Invests $238,000 in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Brandes Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Sysco by 706.9% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 3,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 2,962 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 2.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. KCS Wealth Advisory increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 39.7% during the third quarter. KCS Wealth Advisory now owns 4,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in Sysco in the third quarter worth about $319,000. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC grew its position in Sysco by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 15,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sysco Trading Up 0.9 %

SYY stock traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.01. 735,552 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,909,252. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $77.55 and its 200-day moving average is $76.15. The company has a market cap of $37.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77. Sysco Co. has a 52-week low of $62.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.66% and a return on equity of 99.88%. The firm had revenue of $19.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This is an increase from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares in the company, valued at $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SYY. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Sysco from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. 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. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Sysco from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.56.

About Sysco

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.