Grove Bank & Trust Acquires 2,433 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 27.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,343 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,433 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Sysco were worth $867,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Sysco by 11.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721,449 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Sysco by 26.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,076,000 after buying an additional 1,782,180 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,874,000 after buying an additional 672,940 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in Sysco by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,796,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,410,000 after buying an additional 422,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its position in Sysco by 8.5% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 4,790,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,789,000 after buying an additional 375,409 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sysco Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:SYY opened at $73.02 on Monday. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year high of $82.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In other Sysco news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $519,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,876,080. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value 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 trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on SYY. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Melius initiated coverage on Sysco in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.93.

Sysco 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.