Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Stock Price

Key Points

• Citigroup cut Sonoco Products’ price target from $63 to $59 but maintained a “buy” rating, implying 17.49% upside from the stock’s $50.22 price.
• Analyst sentiment has become more cautious: Sonoco has a consensus “hold” rating from four Buy and eight Hold ratings, with an average price target of $57.78.
• Sonoco’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, with EPS of $1.67 versus $1.74 expected and revenue of $2.04 billion versus $2.07 billion; revenue declined 4.2% year over year.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by Citigroup from $63.00 to $59.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Citigroup's target price indicates a potential upside of 17.49% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on SON. Bank of America lowered shares of Sonoco Products from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $69.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their price target on Sonoco Products from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Sonoco Products from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.78.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

SON traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $50.22. The company had a trading volume of 1,293,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,168,434. Sonoco Products has a 12-month low of $38.65 and a 12-month high of $60.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.55. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of 7.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.07). Sonoco Products had a positive return on equity of 15.51% and a negative net margin of 3.08%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Sonoco Products in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $657,016,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,931,180 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $212,632,000 after purchasing an additional 32,810 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Sonoco Products in the second quarter worth $204,968,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 4.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,497,108 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,979,000 after buying an additional 66,483 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Sonoco Products by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,116,918 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $60,414,000 after buying an additional 12,185 shares during the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sonoco Products

Sonoco Products Company is a global packaging company headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina. Founded in 1899 as the Southern Novelty Company, it has developed from a producer of paper cones for the textile industry into a diversified provider of packaging solutions serving consumer, industrial and commercial customers.

The company manufactures a broad range of products, including composite cans and tubes, paperboard packaging, flexible packaging, thermoformed packaging, rigid plastic containers, protective packaging and packaging components.

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