Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Sonoco Products, with seven hold ratings and five buys; the average 12-month price target is $60.78.
• Sonoco shares opened at $48.35, down 3%, while institutional investors own 77.69% of the stock. Recent analyst actions were mixed, including upgraded targets from Citigroup and Truist but a downgrade from Bank of America.
• The company beat quarterly earnings estimates with $1.51 EPS versus $1.47 expected, despite a 1.3% year-over-year revenue decline. Sonoco also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.54 per share, representing a 4.5% yield.

Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.7778.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sonoco Products from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Sonoco Products from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Sonoco Products from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Sonoco Products from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $69.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Sonoco Products by 77.7% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 590 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. WPG Advisers LLC increased its position in Sonoco Products by 93.1% during the first quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 612 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Sonoco Products by 1,826.9% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,002 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in Sonoco Products during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. 77.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of SON stock opened at $48.35 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.36. Sonoco Products has a fifty-two week low of $38.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.04. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sonoco Products has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.800-6.200 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 5.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. Sonoco Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.34%.

About Sonoco Products

Sonoco Products Company NYSE: SON is a global provider of diversified packaging solutions, serving a wide range of consumer, industrial and retail markets. The company offers a broad portfolio that includes rigid paper and plastic containers, flexible packaging, industrial core and tube products, thermoformed plastics, retail point-of-purchase displays, and packaging supply chain services. Through its solutions, Sonoco helps customers in food and beverage, personal care, chemicals, healthcare, home and garden, and electronics industries address their packaging needs, improve product shelf appeal, and optimize logistics efficiency.

With operations in more than 30 countries across North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, Sonoco leverages a global network of manufacturing facilities, recycling centers and distribution channels to meet the demands of multinational and regional customers.

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