Verity & Verity LLC Increases Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Verity & Verity LLC grew its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,606 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 22,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sysco by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 1.6% during the second quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC boosted its position in Sysco by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Arrow Financial Corp increased its holdings in Sysco by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 19,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYY has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays increased their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. The trade was a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of SYY stock opened at $75.76 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $75.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.20. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year high of $82.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. Sysco’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Company 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.