Dover Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Dover Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 2,956 shares of the company's stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,330 shares of the company's stock worth $2,625,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Morton Community Bank increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Morton Community Bank now owns 40,585 shares of the company's stock worth $3,103,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the company's stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 430 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Sysco in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Sysco and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $83.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.84, for a total value of $25,219.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at $902,359.92. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sysco Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Sysco stock traded down $1.15 on Friday, hitting $74.24. 2,255,195 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,334,535. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $71.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.81. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $67.12 and a one year high of $82.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $19.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.11 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 106.30%. The business's revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This is a positive change from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Sysco's payout ratio is 55.96%.

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.