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

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $5,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth $683,599,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth $450,794,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 132.9% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,653,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,177,000 after buying an additional 2,084,501 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter worth $227,241,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,036,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,029,000 after buying an additional 240,671 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SYY. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Sysco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.90.

Sysco Stock Performance

NYSE:SYY traded up $2.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $71.69. The stock had a trading volume of 3,172,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,134,550. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.16. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $62.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77. The stock has a market cap of $35.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.18.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. Sysco had a return on equity of 99.88% and a net margin of 2.66%. The company had revenue of $19.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sysco’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This is an increase from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Sysco’s payout ratio is 49.76%.

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.