Bank of Montreal Can Sells 24,511 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,436,029 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,511 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.29% of Sysco worth $109,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in Sysco by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,590,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,342,000 after buying an additional 60,059 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 9,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 3,411 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Sysco by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 225,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,259,000 after acquiring an additional 35,045 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Sysco by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 271,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,793,000 after acquiring an additional 28,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in Sysco by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 8,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 2,279 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SYY shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

NYSE:SYY opened at $67.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.91. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.38 and a fifty-two week high of $82.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.91.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. Sysco had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 106.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

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.