Sysco

We’re always on the lookout for new stocks that we feel offer
conservative investors strong growth with limited risk. International
Flavors & Fragrances (this issue), is a good example.

At the same time, we constantly monitor our current recommendations
for reasons that might cause us to change our opinion.
Here are six with limited prospects that we now see as sells:

HARTE-HANKS INC. $12 (New York …read more »

Sysco Corp., symbol SYY on New York, supplies food and kitchen supplies to over 400,000 restaurants, hotels and schools in North America and Ireland.

In its fiscal 2011 second quarter, which ended January 1, 2011, the U.S. stock’s earnings fell 3.8%, to $258.2 million, or $0.44 a share. That fell short of the consensus earnings estimate of $0.47 a share. A …read more »

SYSCO INC. $29 (New York symbol SYY; Conservative Growth Portfolio; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 585.1 million; Market cap: $17.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.sysco.com) distributes food and supplies to over 400,000 North American restaurants. Sysco’s revenue rose 7.4% in its first quarter, which ended October 2, 2010, to $9.8 billion from $9.1 billion a …read more »

C.R. BARD INC. $78 (New York symbol BCR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 95.1 million; Market cap: $7.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend yield: 0.9%; WSSF Rating: Above Average) is seeing rising demand for its medical devices, particularly in emerging markets.

The higher demand helped push up Bard’s earnings by 7.9% in the three months ended June 30, …read more »

Food sellers Sysco and Supervalu stand to gain from increasing restaurant traffic and grocery store sales as the economy recovers. However, they could have trouble passing along higher food and other costs to their customers. We feel both stocks will likely make little progress in the next few months.

SYSCO CORP. $31 (New York symbol SYY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; …read more »

SYSCO INC. $27 (New York symbol SYY; Conservative Growth Portfolio; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 591.8 million; Market cap: $16.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; WSSF Rating: Average) distributes food and other supplies to over 400,000 restaurants in North America. The weak economy has prompted more people to eat at home. As a result, Sysco’s revenue fell 8.1% in its first quarter, …read more »

The recession has forced many consumers to cut their restaurant visits. When they do go out, many are switching to less-expensive establishments and skipping extras, like appetizers and dessert. Consumers are also waiting for sales instead of buying groceries at regular prices. These factors are bad news for Sysco and Supervalu, two of the largest food sellers in the U.S. …read more »

SYSCO CORP. $23 (New York symbol SYY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 589.9 million; Market cap: $13.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; WSSF Rating: Average) sells food and kitchen supplies to over 400,000 restaurants, schools, hotels and hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. The company has about 16% of the North American food-service market.

In its third fiscal quarter, which …read more »

SYSCO CORP. $32 (New York symbol SYY) plans to buy back 20 million of its shares, or about 3% of the total outstanding. It will also repurchase the remaining 3 million shares remaining under its previous authorization. Share buybacks boost per share earnings and increase the proportionate ownership of the remaining stockholders. However, rising gasoline and other costs have hurt …read more »

3M COMPANY $85 (New York symbol MMM) expects its earnings before special items will rise from $4.95 a share to $5.45 a share in 2008, or about 10%. The stock trades at 15.6 times the 2008 estimate. Most of the gain will come from 3M’s international operations, which supply two-thirds of its revenue. The company’s large overseas operations will also …read more »