Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Position in Sonoco Products Company $SON

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in Sonoco Products by 1.5%, holding approximately 1.31% of the company with a value of $61.24 million at the end of the last quarter.
• Sonoco Products has experienced recent upgrades from analysts, with price targets now set between $55.00 and $58.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53, payable on September 10th, representing an annualized yield of 4.7%.

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its holdings in Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON - Free Report) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,296,372 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 19,418 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 1.31% of Sonoco Products worth $61,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SON. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,591,263 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $169,646,000 after buying an additional 450,792 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,655,347 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $125,439,000 after purchasing an additional 60,746 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,308,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $109,074,000 after purchasing an additional 206,749 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake 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 worth $66,186,000 after buying an additional 43,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in Sonoco Products by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,272,121 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $62,143,000 after buying an additional 442,892 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sonoco Products from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonoco Products currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.63.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SON traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.03. The stock had a trading volume of 896,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 859,207. Sonoco Products Company has a 1 year low of $39.46 and a 1 year high of $56.36. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $46.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.63. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 8.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.70.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.37 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 firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. Sonoco Products'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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sonoco Products Company will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Sonoco Products's dividend payout ratio 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.