Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Stock Rating Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SYY. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Sysco from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on Sysco from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Sysco from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.17.

Sysco Price Performance

SYY opened at $77.52 on Friday. Sysco has a one year low of $68.19 and a one year high of $91.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.62, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.64.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Sysco had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 95.05%. The firm had revenue of $22.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. Sysco’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sysco has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.025-5.117 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.180-1.200 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sysco will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. Sysco’s payout ratio is presently 60.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ronald Phillips sold 7,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.61, for a total value of $614,533.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,231,526.50. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,525 shares of company stock worth $1,299,736. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sysco

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sysco during the second quarter worth $2,633,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sysco during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,523,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,370,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in Sysco by 301.9% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 16,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 12,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Nebraska Trust Co bought a new position in Sysco during the second quarter worth about $183,604,000. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

About Sysco

Sysco Corporation is a global foodservice distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company supplies restaurants, hotels, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, government organizations and other foodservice customers with a broad range of products and related services.

Sysco’s offerings include fresh and frozen foods, meat and seafood, dairy products, produce, canned and dry goods, beverages, specialty and international foods, and prepared and ready-to-use items. The company also distributes nonfood products such as kitchen equipment, tableware, cleaning supplies and other operating supplies.