Brokerages Set Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Target Price at $85.38

Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.38.

Several analysts recently weighed in on SYY shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other Sysco news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter worth about $683,599,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sysco in the 4th quarter valued at about $450,794,000. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter worth about $227,241,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Sysco by 132.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,653,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $267,177,000 after buying an additional 2,084,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Management Inc. WI lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 92.1% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 2,619,940 shares of the company's stock valued at $191,596,000 after buying an additional 1,255,908 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.

Sysco Trading Down 3.8 %

NYSE:SYY traded down $2.90 on Tuesday, reaching $74.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,972,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,948,538. The firm has a market cap of $37.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00. Sysco has a 12-month low of $62.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.11.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.32 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. Sysco's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sysco will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This is an increase from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Sysco's payout ratio is 48.90%.

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.