Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 500 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Sysco were worth $2,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Sysco by 112.8% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,612,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,770,000 after buying an additional 3,504,740 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sysco by 103.0% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,746,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,830,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408,226 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Sysco in the 1st quarter worth about $178,824,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Sysco by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,012,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,997,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Sysco by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,180 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sysco Stock Performance

SYY opened at $74.17 on Wednesday. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $64.28 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The company has a market cap of $36.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.34 and its 200 day moving average is $74.75.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $20.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.51 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 102.09%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Sysco from $91.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sysco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.08.

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.