Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.51

Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.51 per share on Friday, July 26th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This is a positive change from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Sysco has increased its dividend by an average of 3.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 55 consecutive years. Sysco has a dividend payout ratio of 42.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Sysco to earn $4.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.7%.

Sysco Price Performance

SYY remained flat at $77.07 during mid-day trading on Friday. 2,072,280 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,339,761. The firm has a market cap of $38.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.78. Sysco has a 1-year low of $62.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $19.29 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYY has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Stephens upped 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. increased their price target on Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.38.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In other Sysco news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.