Millennium Management LLC Purchases 1,015,250 Shares of Sonoco Products Company $SON

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Sonoco Products Company by 739.7%, owning over 1.15 million shares valued at approximately $54.4 million as of its recent SEC filing.
• Sonoco Products missed analysts' expectations with earnings per share of $1.37 for the last quarter, compared to the anticipated $1.44, although revenue rose 17.7% year-over-year.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, with a yield of 4.6%, and plans to pay this on September 10th to investors of record on August 8th.

Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON - Free Report) by 739.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,152,506 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,015,250 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 1.17% of Sonoco Products worth $54,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Sonoco Products by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,419 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 190.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 36,652 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,790,000 after purchasing an additional 24,022 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 26,377 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 1,104.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 94,343 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,609,000 after purchasing an additional 86,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 242,315 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,837,000 after purchasing an additional 88,115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SON shares. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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 upgraded Sonoco Products from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Sonoco Products from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products presently 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 $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.79. 847,814 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 872,608. Sonoco Products Company has a 1-year low of $39.46 and a 1-year high of $56.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.70. The company's 50-day moving average price is $46.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.63.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 8.35%.Sonoco Products's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. Sonoco Products has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.000-6.2 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Sonoco Products's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.99%.

About Sonoco Products

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.