NorthRock Partners LLC Increases Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

NorthRock Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 147.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,954 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,146 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Sysco were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Sherman Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Sysco by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 430 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYY has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sysco from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 price target on Sysco and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Sysco from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.62.

Sysco Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of SYY stock traded up $0.70 on Tuesday, reaching $73.70. 2,625,463 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,359,458. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $71.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.80. Sysco Co. has a 52 week low of $67.12 and a 52 week high of $82.23.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.06). The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. 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 yield of 2.93%. Sysco's payout ratio is 55.96%.

About Sysco

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.