Boston Trust Walden Corp Raises Holdings in Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY)

Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 15.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 926,595 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 122,250 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned 0.19% of Sysco worth $69,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SYY. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 143.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company's stock worth $930,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,754 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $450,441,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company's stock worth $687,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928,002 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $123,928,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,078,000. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on SYY. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Sysco in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $78.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Sysco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Sysco from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.84, for a total transaction of $25,219.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,738 shares in the company, valued at $902,359.92. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.71. The company had a trading volume of 4,897,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,295,380. The company has a market capitalization of $36.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.81. Sysco Corporation has a 1 year low of $67.12 and a 1 year high of $82.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.37. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $72.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.54.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.06). Sysco had a return on equity of 107.96% and a net margin of 2.36%. The business had revenue of $19.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Sysco's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco Corporation will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. This is a positive change from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Sysco's payout ratio is 52.85%.

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.