Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Acquires 375,409 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 8.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,790,665 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 375,409 shares during the period. Sysco makes up 3.9% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $366,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sysco during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sysco by 1,240.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Sysco in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Sysco in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in Sysco in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Sysco Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Sysco stock opened at $75.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.74. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $69.03 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $37.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,638,670.10. The trade was a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.