Robert Freedland

Sysco: Where to Find Value and Growth Potential

I think stocks like SYY and ECL in a similar line of work will be strong players once the economy gets back on track which appears to be not at least until the first or second quarter of 2010. Meanwhile, I would agree that this is probably not too bad a place to park one's funds.


On Jun 18 06:05 PM Uncle BIM wrote:

> The consumer is hardly dead. As a psychologist and stock analyst,
> certain areas never get obsolete, such as food. Fewer people will
> eat at home once the recession ends, and companies that supply food
> to restaurants and food stations are a safe bet to say the least.
> I look for SYY to outperform the market in the coming months.

Sysco: Where to Find Value and Growth Potential

Thanks for commenting. The P&F still is a struggle now (9/24/09) but the stock is slowly moving higher from its recent low of $19.50 in March, 2009. Would like to see the stock trade north of $29 technically to feel like the chart is more promising.


On Jun 17 09:08 AM granger wrote:

> I have followed and owned SYY for a long time. I actually lightened
> for the first time ever in the high 24's.
>
> I love SYY and its fundamental strength. I believe it is one of the
> best run companies in the United States. I consider it a premiere
> holding.
>
> But, I am a staunch P&F follower.
>
> It scares me that one of my favorite companies is giving such a poor
> fundamental picture on its P&F chart.
>
> If what I consider best of breed is having trouble, what is the rest
> of the restaurant/ leisure industry looking like.
>
> If SYY s is going lower, then things must be very tough out there.]
>
>
> (SYY is still probably one of the best places to sit out the coming
> storm)

Sysco: Where to Find Value and Growth Potential

Thanks for your comment. Sysco is indeed struggling but it is the '250 pound gorilla' in the business and seems to have a good strategy for continued growth. What would serve this company best would be a reignition of growth in the economy with less unemployment and more demand at restaurants. Until then, we may well see SYY tread water in this price range.


On Jun 16 08:07 PM jepittman wrote:

> You can go to the company's website www.sysco.com/ and get
> the audio of a recent presentation to a Sanford-Bernstein investment
> conference. Bottom line is things are tough out there but have stopped
> going down. The economy should begin to recover in the second half
> of the year. SYY's fiscal year ends in June so perhaps next year
> brings positive earnings comparisons.
>
> One other thing: SYY has made an aquisition in Ireland, their first
> overseas. It won't move the needle but they made it on their terms
> and the Pallas Foods group is a leading foodservice providor. The
> acquired company should benefit from SYY's enormous food sourcing
> network.
>
> The stock has bumped its head recently around $24. Should it decisivly
> break this level it should move quickly to the $30 area. Get a position
> during this market pullback. Get it before June 30 and collect the
> next generous quarterly dividend, their 158th consecutive.

Selling Sysco

JEPittman,

Thank you for your fine comment. I also appreciate the consistency in Sysco's results for the past many years and believe the future remains bright for this food/material supplier.

For clarification, I am neither a trader nor an investor, if you mean to define those terms by one willing either to step in and out of stocks for short-term price changes as opposed to a long-term investor who buys and holds regardless of price movements.

I try to be an intelligent investor.

That is, I am not blind to the effects of the market on my own holdings. I would prefer to own stocks for years on end, but I have chosen to part company with them should they disappoint which for me is a reflection usually on the investing environment and not the stocks themselves.

Thank you for your comments. I look forward to reading more of them and would encourage you to visit my blog to get the larger picture of what and how I do my investing.

Selling Sysco

Ed K.,

It was with great regret that I parted ways with Sysco (SYY). I plan on revisiting this one as a stockholder as soon as I can. In fact, I have slightly modified my own trading strategy to allow for a (12)% loss tolerance with these five minimum positions.

Long-term, it is useful to identify companies like Sysco that can generate consistent returns, revenue growth, and are not subject to the whims of fashion or cyclical trends.

Thank you for your kind words and I would encourage you to visit my blog where many more entries are posted and where I discuss some of my own struggles with developing a rational approach to investing in irrational times.

End of Year Portfolio Performance Review

I think that is my typo. These are stocks as of December 31, 2008. I am probably not old enough to have these kind of 'senior moments'....:). Thanks for the correction. Have a Happy New Year!

Can I Find Security in Sysco?

Paul,

Thanks for the 'heads up' on the 'accounting question' on Barron's. I see little commentary from anyone else on anything irregular from Sysco and believe that the Morningstar.com financials are quite good from my perspective without getting into the accounting particulars---which certainly can be quite important.

And k45, since I am not a professional investor, I claim the title of amateur. However, I have been an active investor since 1967 and have been blogging for over 4 1/2 years publishing literally hundreds of stock reviews. Please visit my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice and see if you think I might be worth a word or two on Seeking Alpha.

I hope that my commentary and thoughts are helpful for at least the novices that visit this website and I apologize if I have wasted your time.

Bob