Hennessy Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 36,800 Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 36,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,761,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sysco by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,519,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,703,775,000 after buying an additional 429,711 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Sysco by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,907,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,292,751,000 after purchasing an additional 851,441 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Sysco by 143.7% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company's stock worth $930,296,000 after buying an additional 7,184,754 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Sysco by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,868,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $905,120,000 after purchasing an additional 233,885 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Sysco by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company's stock worth $687,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928,002 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 12,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $902,359.92. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Sysco in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Sysco from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 target price on Sysco and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.00.

Sysco Trading Down 0.1%

SYY traded down $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.21. 1,410,414 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,320,133. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.37. Sysco Corporation has a one year low of $67.12 and a one year high of $82.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $72.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.63.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.06). Sysco had a return on equity of 107.96% and a net margin of 2.36%. The company had revenue of $19.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Sysco's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sysco Corporation will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 a positive change from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Sysco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.85%.

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.