Sherman Asset Management Inc. Buys New Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 24,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in Sysco by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,260,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Sysco by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after buying an additional 2,358 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in Sysco by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter worth $968,000. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

SYY stock opened at $75.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.65. The company has a market capitalization of $36.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. Sysco Co. has a 1-year low of $69.03 and a 1-year high of $82.33.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $519,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,876,080. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold 76,370 shares of company stock worth $5,965,519 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.