Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) Stock Price

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has lowered its price target for Sonoco Products from $61.00 to $60.00, while maintaining a "buy" rating, indicating a potential upside of 48.50% from the last close.
• Sonoco Products shares recently traded down by 2.5% to $40.41, with a market capitalization of $3.99 billion and varying target prices from multiple analysts including Bank of America and Citigroup.
• Institutional investors hold 77.69% of Sonoco Products' stock, reflecting significant interest and investment from hedge funds in recent months.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $61.00 to $60.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target points to a potential upside of 48.50% from the company's previous close.

SON has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $54.50.

Sonoco Products Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of SON traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.41. 2,015,446 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 924,988. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 6.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.68. Sonoco Products has a 52 week low of $39.13 and a 52 week high of $53.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.92. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 21.74%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter. Sonoco Products has set its Q2 2022 guidance at $1.60-$1.70 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonoco Products

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SON. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,618,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 70.1% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,827,569 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $122,914,000 after buying an additional 1,164,849 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 739.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,152,506 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,444,000 after buying an additional 1,015,250 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 14.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,591,263 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $169,646,000 after buying an additional 450,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 699.3% during the first quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 497,814 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $23,517,000 after buying an additional 435,529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.69% of the company's stock.

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.

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