Howland Capital Management LLC Has $3.17 Million Stock Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Howland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,025 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $3,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Professional Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Sysco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,057,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter worth $4,623,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 82,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,014,000 after buying an additional 23,558 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 298,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,865,000 after buying an additional 41,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter worth $841,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of SYY traded up $2.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $71.69. The stock had a trading volume of 3,172,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,134,550. The company’s fifty day moving average is $72.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Sysco Co. has a 52 week low of $62.24 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.18.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.66% and a return on equity of 99.88%. The firm had revenue of $19.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. This is a positive change from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Sysco from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Sysco from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.90.

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.