WBI Investments LLC Buys 920 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

WBI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,703 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the quarter. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sysco by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,519,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,703,775,000 after acquiring an additional 429,711 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Sysco by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,907,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,751,000 after acquiring an additional 851,441 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Sysco by 143.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,296,000 after acquiring an additional 7,184,754 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sysco by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,868,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,120,000 after buying an additional 233,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Sysco by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,488,000 after buying an additional 1,928,002 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.84, for a total transaction of $25,219.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $902,359.92. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY opened at $72.95 on Tuesday. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $67.12 and a twelve month high of $82.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.02. The company has a market capitalization of $35.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.06). Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. The business had revenue of $19.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. Sysco’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This is an increase from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYY has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.38.

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.