NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Lowers Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan cut its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 31.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,300 shares during the period. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SYY. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 11.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,859,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076,287 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Sysco by 3.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,138,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,435,000 after purchasing an additional 178,464 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Sysco by 4.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,651,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,298,000 after acquiring an additional 265,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,738,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,907,000 after purchasing an additional 21,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Sysco by 0.4% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,320,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,240,000 after buying an additional 9,385 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY remained flat at $77.07 during trading on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 2,062,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,875,208. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.68. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $62.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.15.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.32 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 48.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SYY shares. Stephens increased their price target on Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sysco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.38.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In other Sysco news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.