Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.50.

SON has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com raised Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonoco Products

In other Sonoco Products news, Director John R. Haley purchased 3,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $46.76 per share, with a total value of $140,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,772.08. This trade represents a 19.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $191,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,316.75. This represents a 19.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SON. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the 4th quarter valued at $78,203,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter valued at $60,984,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Sonoco Products by 368.6% during the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 666,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,555,000 after buying an additional 524,198 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,272,121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,143,000 after acquiring an additional 442,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 63.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,129,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,181,000 after acquiring an additional 437,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

NYSE SON opened at $45.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $44.35 and a 1-year high of $61.73. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.58.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.18 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is currently 126.06%.

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.