Raymond James & Associates Purchases 11,798 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON – Get Rating) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,798 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.09% of Sonoco Products worth $5,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SON. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,991,558 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $687,633,000 after acquiring an additional 362,516 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,740,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $609,312,000 after acquiring an additional 179,779 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,240,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $515,546,000 after purchasing an additional 972,157 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 1.7% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,500,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $141,851,000 after buying an additional 40,712 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,890,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,223,000 after acquiring an additional 53,355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sonoco Products

In other news, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. acquired 10,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $56.00 per share, with a total value of $560,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 20,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,640. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Sonoco Products news, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. acquired 10,000 shares of Sonoco Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $56.00 per share, with a total value of $560,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,640. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ernest D. Haynes III sold 531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.36, for a total transaction of $30,458.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,717.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SON. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Argus raised shares of Sonoco Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.17.

Sonoco Products Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE SON opened at $60.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Sonoco Products has a 12 month low of $51.52 and a 12 month high of $65.96.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 29.17% and a net margin of 6.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 5.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 9th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.40%.

About Sonoco Products

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Sonoco Products Co engages in the manufacture of industrial and consumer packaging products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Packaging, Paper and Industrial Converted Products, Protective Solutions, and Display and Packaging. The Consumer Packaging segment offers round and shaped rigid containers, fiber and plastic caulk and adhesive tubes, and aluminum, steel, and peelable membrane easy-open closures for paper and metal cans.