Trust Co. of Vermont Decreases Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Trust Co. of Vermont decreased its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,464 shares of the company’s stock after selling 339 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Sysco by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Sysco by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 24,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 3,407 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 6,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 881.1% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 4,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of SYY stock opened at $73.02 on Friday. Sysco Co. has a 52-week low of $69.03 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $76.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. Sysco’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SYY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Melius started coverage on Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,638,670.10. This represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,306 shares of company stock valued at $6,485,050 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.