Prudential Financial Inc. Buys 19,590 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,436 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,590 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Sonoco Products worth $7,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sonoco Products by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,128,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $543,638,000 after purchasing an additional 120,843 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 57,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,823,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter valued at about $776,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,285,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Sonoco Products by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,345,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $65,706,000 after acquiring an additional 43,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SON stock opened at $46.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61. Sonoco Products has a twelve month low of $44.36 and a twelve month high of $61.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.02.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 20.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is currently 126.06%.

Insider Transactions at Sonoco Products

In related news, CEO R. Howard Coker acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.10 per share, for a total transaction of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 482,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,237,026.50. The trade was a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total value of $191,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,316.75. This represents a 19.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.74% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup cut their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.50.

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.