Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $52.52, but opened at $51.01. Sonoco Products shares last traded at $50.55, with a volume of 90,254 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Sonoco Products from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 2.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s fifty day moving average is $54.03 and its 200-day moving average is $54.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 20.03%. Sonoco Products’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.5% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,645,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,192,000 after buying an additional 64,915 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 11.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,631,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,465,000 after buying an additional 261,062 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.4% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,195,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $111,338,000 after buying an additional 50,577 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 13,464.6% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,980,297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,441,000 after buying an additional 1,965,698 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,490,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $75,602,000 after buying an additional 126,643 shares during the period. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.