Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Down 0.2 %

Sonoco Products stock opened at $46.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $44.35 and a 1-year high of $61.73.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 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 the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is 126.06%.

Insider Transactions at Sonoco Products

In other Sonoco Products news, Director John R. Haley bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.76 per share, for a total transaction of $140,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,772.08. The trade was a 19.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of Sonoco Products 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 owns 16,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,316.75. This trade represents a 19.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sonoco Products

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 120,843 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,140,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $153,411,000 after acquiring an additional 136,965 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Sonoco Products by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,594,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,746,000 after buying an additional 10,661 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Sonoco Products by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,863,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,842,000 after buying an additional 42,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC acquired a new position in Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter valued at about $78,203,000. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.