Ellis Investment Partners LLC Sells 846 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 24.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,653 shares of the company’s stock after selling 846 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Sysco by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,984,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $891,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637,232 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position 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 during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Sysco by 112.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,612,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,770,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504,740 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Sysco by 103.0% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,746,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,830,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408,226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of SYY stock opened at $73.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.19, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $36.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.77. Sysco Co. has a 52 week low of $64.28 and a 52 week high of $82.89.

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 company had revenue of $20.56 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SYY. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.08.

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.