Sysco (NYSE:SYY) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $75.61 and traded as high as $76.69. Sysco shares last traded at $76.36, with a volume of 1,604,649 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYY has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.93.

Sysco Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38. The firm has a market cap of $37.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $76.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.61.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The company had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In other news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total value of $303,103.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,638,670.10. This represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,747,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,846,480. The trade was a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,279 shares of company stock worth $2,786,971 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sysco by 1,240.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Sysco in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Company 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.