Swiss National Bank Raises Position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 193,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of Sonoco Products worth $9,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products during the 3rd quarter worth $210,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 166,881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,117,000 after purchasing an additional 34,382 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 305.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 97,024 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,300,000 after purchasing an additional 73,099 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,029,166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,223,000 after purchasing an additional 344,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,907,000 after purchasing an additional 7,907 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SON has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Truist Financial cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Insider Transactions at Sonoco Products

In other news, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. sold 4,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,065 shares in the company, valued at $770,316.75. The trade was a 19.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO R. Howard Coker purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.10 per share, for a total transaction of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE SON opened at $46.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.61. Sonoco Products has a one year low of $44.36 and a one year high of $61.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $47.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.33.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.01). The business 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%. Analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.