Heartland Advisors Inc. Invests $14.83 Million in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 193,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,827,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Buckley Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,188 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in Sysco by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the company's stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Sysco by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 124,341 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,706,000 after buying an additional 8,891 shares during the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc bought a new position in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter valued at $7,613,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sysco by 76.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 135,362 shares of the company's stock worth $10,256,000 after buying an additional 58,430 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on SYY shares. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Melius Research raised Sysco to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sysco presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.77.

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Insider Transactions at Sysco

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,335,408. This represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Sysco Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Sysco stock traded up $0.05 on Tuesday, reaching $75.09. The company had a trading volume of 542,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,267,214. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $73.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.11. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $69.03 and a 1 year high of $82.23. The firm has a market cap of $36.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Sysco's dividend payout ratio is 52.44%.

Sysco 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.