Keel Point LLC Acquires New Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Keel Point LLC bought a new position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SYY. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in Sysco by 263.4% during the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 34,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,246,000 after buying an additional 24,650 shares during the period. Professional Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,057,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter valued at $4,623,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 82,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,014,000 after buying an additional 23,558 shares during the period. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 161.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 18,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 11,269 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens lifted their target price on Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sysco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.38.

Insider Activity

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 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 approximately $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:SYY opened at $75.84 on Wednesday. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $62.24 and a one year high of $82.89. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $37.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. The company had revenue of $19.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 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, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid 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 yield of 2.64%. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 48.90%.

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.