St. James Investment Company LLC Acquires 1,100 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

St. James Investment Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 22.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,930 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Sysco accounts for about 0.1% of St. James Investment Company LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. St. James Investment Company LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SYY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,519,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,703,775,000 after purchasing an additional 429,711 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Sysco by 11.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721,449 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Sysco by 143.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,296,000 after buying an additional 7,184,754 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,206,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,046,000 after acquiring an additional 521,431 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter worth about $450,441,000. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE SYY opened at $74.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $69.03 and a 12-month high of $82.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.12.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on SYY. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sysco from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Melius Research raised Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.