Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sysco (NYSE:SYY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Sysco from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sysco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Melius Research lowered shares of Sysco from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

Sysco Price Performance

SYY opened at $79.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.00 and a 200-day moving average of $80.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.62. Sysco has a 12-month low of $68.19 and a 12-month high of $91.85.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $22.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.95 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 95.05% and a net margin of 2.08%.Sysco’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Sysco has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.025-5.117 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.180-1.200 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Sysco will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ronald Phillips sold 506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.09, for a total value of $42,549.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,053,560.17. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,508 shares of company stock valued at $1,215,250. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new stake in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Sysco by 87.6% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

About Sysco

Sysco Corporation (NYSE: SYY) is a global foodservice distribution company that supplies a broad range of food and related products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments, and other foodservice customers. Its core business is the procurement, warehousing and delivery of fresh, frozen and dry food products, complemented by non-food items such as paper goods, kitchen equipment, cleaning supplies and tabletop products. Sysco serves customers through an extensive network of distribution centers and dedicated delivery fleets, positioning itself as a one-stop supplier for operators of all sizes.

Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, Sysco has grown through both organic expansion and acquisitions.