Capital Research Global Investors Buys 1,928,002 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 27.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,991,476 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,928,002 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors owned 1.84% of Sysco worth $687,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Sysco by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,283,713 shares of the company's stock worth $327,533,000 after acquiring an additional 213,838 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in Sysco by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 48,614 shares of the company's stock worth $3,717,000 after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the period. Generation Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at about $596,000. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 6,548 shares of the company's stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 2,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cadence Bank increased its holdings in Sysco by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 66,667 shares of the company's stock worth $5,097,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $72.51. The company had a trading volume of 2,649,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,345,203. Sysco Co. has a 12 month low of $67.12 and a 12 month high of $82.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $35.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.91. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $72.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.48.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 106.30%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.54 dividend. This is an increase from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Sysco's payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on SYY. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.92.

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.