Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.52 Per Share

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of 0.52 per share by the industrial products company on Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. This is an increase from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51.

Sonoco Products has raised its dividend by an average of 5.5% annually over the last three years.

Sonoco Products Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SON opened at $55.79 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $56.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.80. Sonoco Products has a 12-month low of $49.98 and a 12-month high of $63.74.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.02). Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 7.00%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 5.26 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SON. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet downgraded Sonoco Products from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Russell K. Grissett sold 2,039 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.06, for a total value of $114,306.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,988 shares in the company, valued at $672,047.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Russell K. Grissett sold 2,039 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.06, for a total value of $114,306.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,988 shares in the company, valued at $672,047.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Adam Wood sold 537 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.04, for a total transaction of $30,630.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 28,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,612,691.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,076 shares of company stock worth $749,002 over the last quarter. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the first quarter worth $50,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products in the first quarter valued at $58,000. KBC Group NV bought a new position in Sonoco Products during the 4th quarter valued at $114,000. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Sonoco Products by 263.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

About Sonoco Products

Sonoco Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells various engineered and sustainable packaging products in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company operates Consumer Packaging and Industrial Paper Packaging segments. The Consumer Packaging segment offers round and shaped rigid paper, steel, and plastic containers; metal and peelable membrane ends, closures, and components; thermoformed plastic trays and enclosures; and high-barrier flexible packaging products.