SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 84,032 Shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its holdings in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) by 74.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 84,032 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $1,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SON. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 152.7% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 111.3% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 90.6% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 650.7% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SON has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sonoco Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.25.

Sonoco Products Stock Up 0.3%

Sonoco Products stock opened at $44.52 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.83. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $39.46 and a 1-year high of $57.81. The company has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The business’s revenue was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Sonoco Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.76%. Sonoco Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 137.66%.

Insider Activity at Sonoco Products

In other news, CEO R. Howard Coker bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $41.17 per share, with a total value of $823,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 502,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,682,367.05. This represents a 4.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert R. Hill, Jr. purchased 5,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $40.34 per share, with a total value of $220,861.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 29,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,643.60. This represents a 22.75% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 27,721 shares of company stock valued at $1,144,366 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

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.