Financial Counselors Inc. Buys 516 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,794 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 103.0% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,746,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,830,000 after acquiring an additional 2,408,226 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Sysco by 49.8% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,012,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,997,895 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,180 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $137,900,000. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 37.5% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,373,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192,650 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SYY. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 note on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com lowered Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.77.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,831.65. This represents a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of Sysco 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Price Performance

SYY stock opened at $77.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.78. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year high of $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $37.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.20.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

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.