Nuance Investments LLC Acquires New Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 113,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,844,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lifted its position in Sysco by 0.6% in the second quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 22,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sysco by 3.1% in the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Sysco by 1.6% during the second quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC grew its holdings in Sysco by 3.9% during the third quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Arrow Financial Corp raised its position in Sysco by 0.8% in the second quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 19,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased 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. StockNews.com lowered Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.77.

Insider Activity

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $216,427.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This represents a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of SYY stock opened at $74.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.75. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $69.03 and a twelve month high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.