Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Sonoco Products to “strong sell” from “hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with an average price target of $57.50.
• Sonoco’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations, with earnings per share of $1.67 versus the $1.74 estimate and revenue of $2.04 billion versus $2.07 billion; revenue declined 4.2% year over year.
• Shares opened at $50.17, down 0.2%, and institutional investors own 77.69% of the company, with major firms including BlackRock and Bank of America recently holding or adding significant positions.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on SON. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Bank of America lowered Sonoco Products from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $63.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $61.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $57.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:SON opened at $50.17 on Thursday. Sonoco Products has a 52 week low of $38.65 and a 52 week high of $60.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of -21.81, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.53.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Sonoco Products had a positive return on equity of 16.40% and a negative net margin of 3.08%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.92 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Sonoco Products during the second quarter worth $657,016,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,931,180 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $212,632,000 after buying an additional 32,810 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the 2nd quarter worth $204,968,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,497,108 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,979,000 after buying an additional 66,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 1.1% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 12,185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company's stock.

Sonoco Products Company Profile

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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