Insider Selling: Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Director Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $191,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,316.75. The trade was a 19.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

SON stock traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $45.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 686,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 800,717. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Sonoco Products has a 12 month low of $45.93 and a 12 month high of $61.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.68.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 19.92%. Sonoco Products’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is presently 71.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 63.2% during 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 buying an additional 437,128 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Sonoco Products by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 16,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 110.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 73,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,018,000 after purchasing an additional 38,564 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 25,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 6,869 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $58.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup lowered their target price on Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Sonoco Products from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Sonoco Products from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sonoco Products has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.17.

Sonoco Products Company Profile

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.