Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Decreases Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 59.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,948,961 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,841,704 shares during the quarter. Sysco accounts for about 1.7% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.40% of Sysco worth $142,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its stake in Sysco by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 93,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after acquiring an additional 18,435 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 67.2% in the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 4,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Sysco in the fourth quarter worth about $296,000. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sysco by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 7,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.57.

Sysco Trading Down 5.9 %

Shares of SYY stock opened at $72.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $69.03 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.03.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $3,698,079.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,335,408. The trade was a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.54% 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.