John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Increases Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 54.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,535 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,950 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $5,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Sysco by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,859,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,283,000 after buying an additional 1,076,287 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sysco by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,909,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,254,000 after acquiring an additional 161,756 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Sysco by 70,686.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,967,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $532,666,000 after acquiring an additional 6,957,665 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Sysco by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,819,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,318,000 after acquiring an additional 310,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in Sysco by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,459,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,666,008 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Sysco stock traded up $1.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.73. 2,517,059 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,917,314. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.37. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $62.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Sysco had a return on equity of 105.22% and a net margin of 2.69%. The business had revenue of $19.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stephens raised their price objective on Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sysco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.38.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In other Sysco news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.