Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Short Interest Update

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,330,000 shares, a growth of 16.4% from the February 13th total of 2,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 803,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonoco Products

In other Sonoco Products news, CEO R. Howard Coker purchased 20,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $46.10 per share, with a total value of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 482,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,237,026.50. This trade represents a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John R. Haley acquired 3,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $46.76 per share, for a total transaction of $140,280.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,772.08. This trade represents a 19.28 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SON. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 4th quarter worth $78,203,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 4th quarter worth $60,984,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew 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 acquiring an additional 524,198 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in 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 grew its holdings in 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 worth $55,181,000 after acquiring an additional 437,128 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of SON stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $48.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 135,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 680,393. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.41. Sonoco Products has a 12-month low of $44.36 and a 12-month high of $61.73. 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 $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 29.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last released its quarterly 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). Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SON. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.50.

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.