Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.17.

SON has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus cut shares of Sonoco Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Sonoco Products in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $61.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $80.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SON. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Sonoco Products by 854.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,092,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $64,388,000 after purchasing an additional 978,308 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 13.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,240,829 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $515,546,000 after acquiring an additional 972,157 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sonoco Products in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,429,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products during the first quarter worth $51,618,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,043,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $120,605,000 after buying an additional 700,414 shares during the period. 76.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SON opened at $55.58 on Monday. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $53.78 and a 1-year high of $64.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.68.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 6.89% and a return on equity of 26.15%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 5.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 9th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is 41.80%.

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 through two segments: Consumer Packaging and Industrial Paper Packaging.