William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. Invests $360,000 in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the first quarter worth $26,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Sonoco Products by 78.8% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Sonoco Products by 12,183.3% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products during the first quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Sonoco Products by 154.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Sonoco Products Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE SON opened at $54.21 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.21. Sonoco Products has a 52-week low of $48.22 and a 52-week high of $61.73. The firm has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.02. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on SON shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Sonoco Products from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sonoco Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

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.