O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Has $5.04 Million Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 87.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 62,063 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 29,009 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $5,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 323.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 114,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,256,000 after buying an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $489,000. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $73.18. The stock had a trading volume of 2,028,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,083,040. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $72.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.17. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $62.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The company has a market cap of $36.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.18.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. Sysco had a return on equity of 99.88% and a net margin of 2.66%. The firm had revenue of $19.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Sysco from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on Sysco from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Sysco from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Sysco from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim raised Sysco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.00.

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.