River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 4,530 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 4.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 109,812 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,530 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $8,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,984,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $891,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,232 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Sysco by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,076,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,180 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Sysco by 112.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,612,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,770,000 after acquiring an additional 3,504,740 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sysco by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,012,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,240,000 after acquiring an additional 1,997,895 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sysco by 103.0% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,746,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,830,000 after acquiring an additional 2,408,226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SYY opened at $76.35 on Wednesday. Sysco Co. has a 52-week low of $66.27 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.16 and a 200 day moving average of $74.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The company had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sysco news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,638,670.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.77.

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.