Atom Investors LP Acquires Shares of 34,919 Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Atom Investors LP bought a new position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 34,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,726,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in Sysco by 1,240.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sysco during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sysco during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SYY. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sysco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total value of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Price Performance

SYY opened at $76.26 on Tuesday. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.78 and a 200 day moving average of $74.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $37.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.19.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The company had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.