Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 450,792 Shares of Sonoco Products Company $SON

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Sonoco Products by 14.4%, acquiring an additional 450,792 shares and holding approximately 3.64% of the company, valued at about $169.6 million.
• Sonoco Products reported earnings of $1.37 per share for the last quarter, falling short of estimates, with revenues reaching $1.91 billion, up 17.7% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $2.12 and a yield of 4.6%, with a payout ratio of 37.99%.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,591,263 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 450,792 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 3.64% of Sonoco Products worth $169,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SON. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,594,601 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $126,746,000 after purchasing an additional 10,661 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Sonoco Products by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,401,051 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $66,186,000 after acquiring an additional 43,049 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,272,121 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $62,143,000 after acquiring an additional 442,892 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,053,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,769,000 after acquiring an additional 8,907 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 886,332 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $43,262,000 after acquiring an additional 292,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SON has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sonoco Products from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Sonoco Products from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Sonoco Products from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sonoco Products from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.63.

Sonoco Products Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of SON stock traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.45. The stock had a trading volume of 773,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 912,537. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $45.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.69. Sonoco Products Company has a 52-week low of $39.46 and a 52-week high of $56.77.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.07). Sonoco Products had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 20.46%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sonoco Products has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.000-6.2 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Sonoco Products Company will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Sonoco Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.99%.

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.