Today we're going to take a look at the well-established Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY). The company's stock received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few months, increasing to US$82.36 at one point, and dropping to the lows of US$74.42. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Sysco's current trading price of US$76.74 reflective of the actual value of the large-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let's take a look at Sysco's outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.
What's The Opportunity In Sysco?
According to our price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. We've used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there's not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock's ratio of 18.35x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers' ratio of 19.43x, which means if you buy Sysco today, you'd be paying a decent price for it. And if you believe that Sysco should be trading at this level in the long run, then there's not much of an upside to gain over and above other industry peers. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Sysco's share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.
What does the future of Sysco look like?
Future outlook is an important aspect when you're looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it's the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by 24% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Sysco. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.
What This Means For You
Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has already priced in SYY's positive outlook, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven't considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at SYY? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio?
Are you a potential investor? If you've been keeping an eye on SYY, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for SYY, which means it's worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
If you want to dive deeper into Sysco, you'd also look into what risks it is currently facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that Sysco has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.
If you are no longer interested in Sysco, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.