Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Lowered to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

SYY has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of Sysco stock opened at $78.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.19. Sysco has a 12-month low of $69.03 and a 12-month high of $82.89. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.30.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. Sysco’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sysco will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total value of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,638,670.10. The trade was a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,831.65. This represents a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,279 shares of company stock valued at $2,786,971. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sysco

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 1,240.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Sysco during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in Sysco during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in Sysco during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in Sysco during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.