LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Lowers Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI decreased its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 40,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,774 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Sysco were worth $3,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SYY. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Sysco by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,237,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,562,000 after purchasing an additional 166,798 shares in the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sysco by 12.7% during the third quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,254,000 after purchasing an additional 14,810 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Sysco by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 78,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after buying an additional 17,587 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Sysco by 11.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,874,000 after purchasing an additional 672,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Sysco by 7.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 124,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,706,000 after buying an additional 8,891 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $3,698,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at $4,335,408. This represents a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,306 shares of company stock valued at $6,485,050 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Down 1.1 %

SYY stock traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $73.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,108,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,697. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.73. 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 has a market capitalization of $36.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.18. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Melius began coverage on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.93.

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.