Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Buys 4,920 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 31.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,765 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,920 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Sysco were worth $1,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harrington Investments INC boosted its stake in shares of Sysco by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 24,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in Sysco in the first quarter valued at approximately $535,000. Charles Schwab Trust Co lifted its stake in Sysco by 10.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 4,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Sysco by 55.3% during the first quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 74,507 shares of the company's stock worth $5,591,000 after buying an additional 26,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sysco by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 64,759 shares of the company's stock worth $4,860,000 after buying an additional 11,062 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SYY shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Sysco in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Sysco from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sysco currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.00.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.87. 626,480 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,322,662. Sysco Co. has a 12 month low of $67.12 and a 12 month high of $82.23. The company's 50 day moving average price is $71.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.81.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $19.60 billion during 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%. Sysco's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.54 dividend. This is an increase from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Sysco's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.