Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Sonoco Products Company has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with six recommending to buy and two to hold.
• The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the last quarter, falling short of the estimated $1.44, while revenue rose 17.7% year-over-year.
• Sonoco has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 4.5%, to be paid on September 10th.

Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.6250.

Several analysts have weighed in on SON shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sonoco Products from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sonoco Products from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Sonoco Products from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th.

Sonoco Products Trading Down 1.7%

Sonoco Products stock traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $45.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 232,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 856,406. 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 cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.67. Sonoco Products has a 12 month low of $39.46 and a 12 month high of $56.66.

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Sonoco Products has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.000-6.2 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Sonoco Products will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Sonoco Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Sonoco Products's payout ratio is currently 37.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in Sonoco Products during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 508.1% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 900 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 152.7% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 950 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in shares of Sonoco Products by 90.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.