Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC Takes Position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 23,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,133,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Sonoco Products by 32.7% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 21,678 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 5,338 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 18.6% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 194,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,610,000 after buying an additional 30,500 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 312.1% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 185,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,126,000 after buying an additional 140,370 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 56.6% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 2,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 29.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 94,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,184,000 after buying an additional 21,799 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SON shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial reduced their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sonoco Products currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO R. Howard Coker purchased 20,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $46.10 per share, with a total value 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. This trade represents a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John R. Haley purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $46.76 per share, for a total transaction of $140,280.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,772.08. The trade was a 19.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.74% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sonoco Products Stock Up 5.5 %

NYSE:SON opened at $42.84 on Thursday. Sonoco Products has a fifty-two week low of $39.46 and a fifty-two week high of $61.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.64. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.31.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last issued its quarterly 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). Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 2.60%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Sonoco Products’s payout ratio is 126.06%.

Sonoco Products 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.