Pinebridge Investments L.P. Lowers Holdings in Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. reduced its position in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Free Report) by 29.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 26,096 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. owned about 0.06% of Sonoco Products worth $3,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter worth $416,000. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sonoco Products in the fourth quarter worth $328,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Sonoco Products by 119.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,373 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 6,188 shares during the last quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. lifted its position in Sonoco Products by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 307,680 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,030,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 55,384 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,706,000 after purchasing an additional 4,607 shares during the last quarter. 77.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sonoco Products Stock Performance

SON stock traded up $2.47 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $43.47. 1,698,707 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 767,947. The firm has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $45.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.36. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $39.46 and a 1-year high of $61.73.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.02 billion. Sonoco Products had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 30.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonoco Products Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.88%. This is an increase from Sonoco Products's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Sonoco Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SON has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonoco Products presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonoco Products

In other Sonoco Products news, Director John R. Haley bought 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.76 per share, with a total value of $140,280.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at $867,772.08. This trade represents a 19.28 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Howard Coker purchased 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $46.10 per share, with a total value of $922,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 482,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,237,026.50. This represents a 4.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.74% of the company's stock.

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.