Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Lowers Stock Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 759,836 shares of the company's stock after selling 128,019 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned approximately 0.16% of Sysco worth $57,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rialto Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Sysco by 188.7% in the 1st quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Sherman Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SYY shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Sysco and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Sysco in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $78.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four 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, Sysco currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.00.

Sysco Stock Up 0.9%

SYY traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $75.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,420,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,330,780. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $67.12 and a 1 year high of $82.23. The stock's 50-day moving average is $71.73 and its 200-day moving average is $73.71.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $19.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.11 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Sysco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.96%.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of Sysco 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 directly owns 12,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at $902,359.92. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.