Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Acquires 739 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,494 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 739 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Sysco were worth $2,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Sysco by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 42,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,084,000 after purchasing an additional 7,128 shares during the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $361,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sysco by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 9,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $705,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter worth $291,000. Finally, Cambridge Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sysco by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Financial Group Inc. now owns 85,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,249,000 after acquiring an additional 2,338 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,082 shares in the company, valued at $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Sysco stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $75.54. The stock had a trading volume of 271,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,939,425. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $62.24 and a 1 year high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $19.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.74 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 99.88% and a net margin of 2.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. This is a positive change from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SYY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stephens upped their target price on Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.56.

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.