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

Nuance Investments LLC bought a new position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 113,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,844,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SYY. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Sysco during the 1st quarter valued at $250,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Sysco during the first quarter valued at about $489,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Sysco by 323.2% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Sysco by 87.8% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 62,063 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,038,000 after acquiring an additional 29,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Sysco by 301.0% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 18,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 13,546 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sysco presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

NYSE:SYY traded down $0.77 on Wednesday, hitting $73.63. The stock had a trading volume of 2,702,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,152,529. The stock has a market cap of $36.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $75.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.75. Sysco Co. has a 52-week low of $69.03 and a 52-week high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Sysco's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. The trade was a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 value of $216,427.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by 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.