Sonoco Products Company $SON Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in Sonoco Products Company by 5.8% during Q1, now owning 148,226 shares valued at approximately $7 million.
• Sonoco Products reported $1.37 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing expectations by 7 cents, while revenue stood at $1.91 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 4.6%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 148,226 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 9,140 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.15% of Sonoco Products worth $7,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Sonoco Products by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,140,471 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $153,411,000 after buying an additional 136,965 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 0.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 43,049 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 442,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sonoco Products by 0.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SON shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on Sonoco Products from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sonoco Products from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Sonoco Products from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.63.

Sonoco Products Price Performance

SON stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.77. 691,565 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 873,283. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $45.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.69. The stock has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.69. Sonoco Products Company has a fifty-two week low of $39.46 and a fifty-two week high of $56.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.07). The firm 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. Sonoco Products has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.000-6.2 EPS. Research analysts predict that Sonoco Products Company will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Sonoco Products's payout ratio is currently 37.99%.

Sonoco Products 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.