Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Invests $1.11 Million in Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 23,568 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,140,471 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $153,411,000 after acquiring an additional 136,965 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sonoco Products by 0.4% during 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 period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new position in Sonoco Products during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $78,203,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Sonoco Products by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,358,002 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $66,338,000 after buying an additional 155,893 shares during the period. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings in Sonoco Products by 53.4% in 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 period. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Sonoco Products from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sonoco Products from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.63.

Sonoco Products Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Sonoco Products stock opened at $44.24 on Friday. Sonoco Products Company has a 1 year low of $39.46 and a 1 year high of $56.77. The firm has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.93, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.59 and a 200 day moving average of $45.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. Sonoco Products's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sonoco Products Company will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Sonoco Products's payout ratio is 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.

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