Duality Advisers LP Increases Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Duality Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 150.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,180 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 23,517 shares during the quarter. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in Sysco were worth $2,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,859,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076,287 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,138,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,435,000 after purchasing an additional 178,464 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,651,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,298,000 after purchasing an additional 265,621 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,738,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,907,000 after purchasing an additional 21,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,320,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,240,000 after purchasing an additional 9,385 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SYY. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.38.

Sysco Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Sysco stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $77.14. 439,447 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,898,076. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $62.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. The company had revenue of $19.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.