Sonoco Products Company (SON) - What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts have a “Hold” consensus on Sonoco Products, with seven hold, three buy, and one sell rating among 11 firms. The average 12-month price target is $57.38, while recent brokerages generally lowered targets or downgraded the stock.
• Sonoco’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations: EPS was $1.67 versus $1.74 expected, revenue was $2.04 billion versus $2.07 billion expected, and revenue declined 4.2% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.54 per share, equivalent to $2.16 annually and a 4.3% yield. Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 77.69% of the stock.

Shares of Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.38.

Several brokerages have commented on SON. Bank of America downgraded Sonoco Products from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sonoco Products from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Sonoco Products in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SON. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sonoco Products during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $657,016,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in 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 worth $212,632,000 after acquiring an additional 32,810 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Sonoco Products during the second quarter worth $204,968,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 4.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,497,108 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,979,000 after acquiring an additional 66,483 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Sonoco Products during the second quarter valued at $60,793,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company's stock.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

SON stock opened at $49.84 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.38. Sonoco Products has a 52 week low of $38.65 and a 52 week high of $60.67. The stock has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Sonoco Products had a negative net margin of 3.08% and a positive return on equity of 16.40%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.92 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Sonoco Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -93.91%.

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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